You are a molecule of phosphorus Choose a starting point

Subject : Chemistry

Question: You are a molecule of phosphorus. Choose a starting point in the phosphorus cycle and describe the process you would go through to move through the entire cycle in just four sentences.

Expert Verified Solution:

As a molecule of phosphorus, I start in the soil where I am absorbed by plants through their roots. I move through the food chain when herbivores eat these plants and then am transferred to carnivores that consume these herbivores. After death or excretion, I return to the soil through decomposition by microorganisms. From there, I can eventually be washed into water bodies and sediment, where I may become part of geological formations, completing the cycle when geological uplift brings me back to the surface.

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