Orthophosphoric acid/phosphoric acid (H3PO4)

Phosphorus forms a whole family of oxyacids, of which orthophosphoric acid (or simply phosphoric acid), H3PO4, is the most important. It is a strong, non-toxic mineral acid whose central phosphorus atom is tetrahedrally coordinated — bonded to one oxygen by a P=O double bond and to three further oxygens, each of which in turn carries an ionizable, acidic hydrogen. Because it has three such ionizable acidic hydrogens, orthophosphoric acid is tripro …