Question

P₂O₅ is heated with water to give ______.

Options

• hypophosphorous acid

• phosphorous acid

• hypophosphoric acid

• orthophosphoric acid

Answer 1

P₂O₅ is heated with water to give orthophosphoric acid.

Explanation:

Because P₂O₅ has a high affinity for water, the end product will be orthophosphoric acid.

\[\ce{P4O10 ->[2H2O] \underset{Metaphosphoric acid}{4HPO3} ->[2H2O] \underset{Pyrophosphoric acid}{2H4P2O7} ->[2H2O] \underset{orthophosphoric acid}{4H3PO4}}\]