OxygenOxygen, symbol O, colorless, odorless, tasteless, slightly magneticgaseous element. On earth, oxygen is more abundant than any other element. Oxygen was discovered in 1774 by the British chemist Joseph Priestley and,independently, by the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele; it was shown to bean elemental gas by the French chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier in his classicexperiments on combustion. Large amounts of oxygen are used in high-temperature welding torches, inwhich a mixture of oxygen and another gas produces a flame of much highertemperature than is obtained by burning gases in air. Oxygen is administered topatients whose breathing is impaired and also to people in aircraft flying athigh altitudes, where the poor oxygen concentration cannot support normalrespiration.
Oxygen-enriched air is used in open-hearth furnaces for steelmanufacture. Most of the oxygen produced in the United States is used to make amixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen called synthesis gas, used for thesynthesis of methanol and ammonia. High-purity oxygen is used also in the metal-fabrication industries; in liquid form it is of great importance as a propellantfor guided missiles and rockets2. I have chosen the element “Oxygen” because without Oxygen, human beingswould not be able to live. Oxygen is probably the single most important elementin the world as we know it. With out Oxygen we would not breath, have water, eatplants.
Oxygen’s Electron configuration is 1S2 + 2S2 + 2P4, it’selectron dotsymbol is:. Gaseous oxygen can be condensed to a pale blueliquid that isstrongly magnetic. Pale blue solid oxygenis produced by compressing theliquid. The atomicweight of oxygen is 15. 9994.
Oxygen composes 21percent by volume or 23. 15 percent by weight of the atmosphere; 85. 8percent by weight of the oceans and, as a constituent of most rocks and minerals,46. 7 percent by weight of the solid crust of the earth. Oxygen comprises 60percent of the human body. It is a constituent of all living tissues; almost allplants and animals, including all humans, require oxygen, in the free orcombined state, to maintain life.
3Three structural forms of oxygen are known: ordinary oxygen, containingtwo atoms per molecule, formula O2; ozone, containing three atoms per molecule,formula O3; and a pale blue, nonmagnetic form, O4, containing four atoms permolecule, which readily breaks down into ordinary oxygen. Three stable isotopesof oxygen are known; oxygen-16 (atomic mass 16) is the most abundant. Itcomprises 99. 76 percent of ordinary oxygen and was used in determination ofatomic weights until the 1960s. Oxygen is prepared in the laboratory from salts such as potassiumchlorate, barium peroxide, and sodium peroxide.
The most important industrialmethods for the preparation of oxygen are the electrolysis of water and thefractional distillation of liquid air. In the latter method, air is liquefiedand allowed to evaporate. The nitrogen in the liquid air is more volatile andboils off first, leaving the oxygen. Oxygen is stored and shipped in eitherliquid or gaseous form. Oxygen is a component of many organic and inorganic compounds. It formscompounds called oxides with almost all the elements, including some of thenoble gases.
A chemical reaction in which an oxide forms is called oxidation. The rate of the reaction varies with different elements. Ordinary combustion, orburning, is a very rapid form of oxidation. In spontaneous combustion, the heatevolved by the oxidation reaction is sufficiently great to raise the temperatureof the substance to the point that flames result.
For example, phosphoruscombines so vigorously with oxygen that the heat liberated in the reactioncauses the phosphorus to melt and burn. Certain very finely divided powderspresent so much surface area to the air that they burst into flame byspontaneous combustion; they are called pyrophoric substances. Sulfur, hydrogen,sodium, and magnesium combine with oxygen less energetically and burn only afterignition. Some elements, such as copper and mercury, form oxides slowly, evenwhen heated. Inactive metals, such as platinum, iridium, and gold, formoxides only through indirect methods.
For discussion of oxides of elements seeseparate articles on each element. 3A Guy jumps of a ship in the middle of the ocean and he swims and swimstowards an island. Having second thoughts about leaving the world, he startedscreaming at a passing ship. The added oxygen to his blood caused his face toturn dark purple.
The captain of the ship saw the man, waived to him, and didn’tpick him up. I guess it was because he was “Marooned.” Science
