Oxygen

Oxygen

Oxygen is one of the many non-metals. It is the most abundant of the non-metals, and is the second most abundant element on earth. Oxygen is important because it is necessary in order to sustain life.

General Info

Oxygen is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas at room temperature. Its chemical symbol is “O”. It is a nonmetal. Oxygen is part of a group called chalcogens. Chalcogens are the group of elements that form group vi of the periodic table.

Chemical Info

Name: Oxygen

Chemical Symbol: O

Atomic Mass: 15.9994

Atomic Number: 8

Density: 1.426 g/cm3

Valence: -2

Isotopes

O-15 has a half life of 122.2 seconds. The isotope O-16 is stable. The isotope O-17 is stable. The isotope O-18 is stable.

History

Oxygen was discovered by a scientist named John Priestly in 1774. He found this by heating Mercury(II) Oxide. This then broke the mercury and oxygen apart leaving two atoms of mercury and one oxygen atom.

Physical Properties

Color: none

Odor: none

Taste: none

Melting point: -218.79Ð'Ñ"C

Boiling point: -182.95Ð'Ñ"C

Chemical Properties

Oxygen easily reacts with many elements and compounds. Oxygen helps to support combustion. It very easily combines with other elements at room temperature. Oxygen easily bonds with most elements.

Availability

Oxygen takes up approximately 20.948 percent of the atmosphere. It also makes up for about 89 percent of the weight of water. Oxygen is the most abundant element in earths crust. Oxygen is always available because it is constantly being reused and recirculated. Plants go through a process called photosynthesis which is a process that allows them to make there own food and a byproduct of this product is pure oxygen. Plants do this all year long every day the sun is shining. If a plant decided not to do this it would starve to death. But seeing as how plant

Production

In the production of commercial oxygen, they extract the oxygen from air. Before this can be done, however they must liquefy the air. This need a very cold temperature to do so. This process creates several tons of oxygen annually.

In nature during a process of photosynthesis, plants create oxygen. First the plant acquires water and carbon dioxide. Then when he plant collects sunlight photosynthesis begins. The water and carbon dioxide and converts it into glucose and oxygen. This process is a never ending cycle. The possibility of plants becoming extinct is impossible. The demand for oxygen has always been met and over done by plants. Because they have no brains, they have no control over what they do.

There is even a household unit that emits more oxygen into your home then just air itself.

Health Effects

Bottled oxygen can save lives by providing easily breathable oxygen