Potassium Phosphorus Science Project Idea

Potassium and Phosphorus- Science Project Idea

How potassium and phosphorus are supplied to the soil.Both of these elements are found in the mineral part of soil.They are usually in an insoluble form which cannot be taken up by plants.The action of weather and of the acids produced by decay of vegetable and animal matter in the soil change the insoluble potassium and phosphorus compounds into soluble 'substances which can be taken up by plants.

Decaying animal and plant matter not only helps to make the potassium and phosphorus compounds already in the mineral part of the soil usable, but as they themselves contain compounds of these two elements their addition increases the supply.Wood ashes spread upon the soil improve the growth of plants largely because of the great amount of potassium which they contain.

The chief source, however, of potassium fertilizers has been the great deposits of Stassfurt, Germany.During the world war the United States together with all other countries faced a potassium famine which threatened to lessen crop production.At the time the war ended, methods for obtaining potassium from rocks holding it in an unusable form were being perfected.It had also been found that considerable quantities could be obtained from kelp or seaweed, which is very abundant on some parts of the Pacific coast.So, if the war had continued, we could have had a supply of potassium to meet all our needs.

One of the sources of phosphorus fertilizers is organic matter such as slaughter house waste and fish scraps; bone meal is especially valuable since a large part of the mineral material of bones consists of a compound of phosphorus.Other important sources of phosphorus fertilizers are phosphate rocks, and slag from steel mills.The phosphate rock is found in many of the southern and western states.The slag is obtained in the process of removing phosphorus from iron in the making of steel.

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