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Oxygen is widely distributed in the Earth's crust and is utilised in the production of glass, stone, steel, melting, refining, and glass.
- Oxygen is a key component in combustion processes.
- Its physical characteristics include being inert, odourless, and insipid as well as mildly reactive, somewhat paramagnetic, and soluble in water.
- While ozone is the most reactive allotrope and damages lung tissue, dioxygen is a typical allotrope.
- Three stable isotopes of oxygen, O-16, O-17, and O-18, each have a paramagnetic feature that distinguishes them from one another.
- In high-pressure settings, specialised oxygen chambers are employed.
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Key terms: Oxygen, Allotrope, Isotopes, Oxides, Melting point, Boiling point, Electronegative, Atom, Dioxygen
Oxygen
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The gaseous chemical element oxygen, with an atomic weight of 15,9994 and an atomic number of 8, is essential. The element with the highest abundance in the Earth's crust, oxygen is crucial for both respiratory and combustion activities.
- Normal circumstances result in oxygen condensing as a pale blue liquid, which is tasteless, odourless, and inert.
- Liquid oxygen is somewhat paramagnetic, making it a member of a limited group of paramagnetic gases.
- In contrast to helium, neon, argon, and krypton, oxygen is reactive and may create oxides with any other element.
- At 20° Celsius, it has a moderate water solubility.
- Through fractional liquefaction and distillation, oxygen may be extracted from air and used in a variety of processes, including melting, refining and mining.
Chemical Properties of Oxygen
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Oxygen, a nonmetallic element, has high electronegativity and affinity values, forming diatomic and triatomic species.
- It is the "original" oxidising agent and forms various covalently bonded compounds, including oxides, organic compounds, acids, and salts.
- It is present as the oxide ion in solid metallic oxides. Here are some chemical properties of oxygen.
| Atomic number | 8 | Isotopes | 4 |
| Atomic mass | 15.999 g.mol -1 | Electronic shell | [ He ]2s2 2p4 |
| Electronegativity according to Pauling | 3.5 | Energy of first ionisation | 1314 kJ.mol -1 |
| Density | 1.429 kg/m3 at 20°C | Energy of secondionisation. | 3388 kJ.mol -1 |
| Melting point | -219 °C | Energy of third ionisation | 5300 kJ.mol -1 |
| Boiling point | -183 °C | Discovered by. | Joseph Priestly in 1774 |
| Van Der Waals radius | 0.074 nm | Key isotopes | 16° |
| Ionic radius | 0.14 nm (-2) | CAS number | 7782-44-7 |
Physical Properties of Oxygen
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The physical properties of oxygen are listed below.
- The gas known as oxygen is tasteless, odourless, and colourless.
- It has a greater density than air.
- It is soluble in several liquids, including water and alcohol, but is a poor conductor of heat and electricity.
- The liquid and solid forms of oxygen have both a light blue colour, while oxygen also occurs as a gas.
- At -218.4 °C, it can be frozen or solidified.
- Diatomic oxygen, nascent oxygen, and ozone are examples of allotropes.
Read More: Metals and Non-Metals- Formula and Equations
Application of Oxygen
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Oxygen supplementation is used in medicine to increase oxygen levels in the patient's blood and decrease resistance to blood flow in diseased lungs. It is used to treat emphysema, pneumonia, heart disorders, and other diseases that impair gaseous oxygen use.
- Hyperbaric medicine uses special oxygen chambers to address carbon monoxide poisoning, gas gangrene, and decompression sickness.
- Oxygen is used as a low-pressure breathing gas in modern space suits, scuba and surface-supplied underwater divers, and submariners.
- It is also used in supplemental oxygen supplies in non-pressurized fixed-wing aircraft and in sports.
- Oxygen bars offer higher than normal O2 exposure for a minimal fee, and professional athletes use oxygen masks to boost performance.
- Other recreational uses include pyrotechnic applications.
- Iron ore smelting into steel uses 55% of commercially produced oxygen, while 25% is used in the chemical industry.
- The remaining 20% is used in medical applications, metal cutting, welding, rocket fuel, and water treatment.
Things to Remember
- The chalcogen group on the periodic table is home to oxygen, an essential element in combustion processes and a plentiful component of the crust of the Earth.
- Oxygen's chemical properties include melting point and boiling point, atomic number, relative atomic mass, state at 20°C, key isotopes, electron configuration, CAS number.
- Oxygen is utilised in glass, stone, mining, melting, refining, and steel manufacturing, with special oxygen chambers for high pressure applications.
- Liquid oxygen, a colourless, odourless gas, is slightly paramagnetic, reactive, and moderately soluble in water.
- Common allotropes include dioxygen and ozone, which can cause lung tissue damage.
- Oxygen, a naturally occurring element, is composed of three stable isotopes: O-16, O-17, and O-18, each with a unique paramagnetic property.
- Fractional liquefaction and distillation extract oxygen from air for various processes, including melting, refining, and mining, providing a backup supply when pressure drops.
- Iron ore smelting into steel uses 55% of commercially produced oxygen, while 25% is used in the chemical industry.
Also Read:
| Related Articles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Interhalogen Compound | Organometallic Compounds | Electron Gain Enthalpy |
| Group 16 Elements | Electronegativity | Atomic Radius |
| Modern Periodic Table | The d-block Elements | Oxyacids of Sulphur |
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Sample Questions
Ques. Define oxygen. (2 marks)
Ans. Oxygen is a nonmetallic chemical element in Group 16, essential to living organisms. It is converted into carbon dioxide by animals, which is used by plants for carbon and returned to the atmosphere. Oxygen forms compounds through reactions with other elements and combustions.
Ques. What is the allotropy of oxygen? (2 marks)
Ans. Diatomic (O2) and triatomic (O3, ozone) are the two allotropic forms of oxygen. The paramagnetism of oxygen is explained by the features of the diatomic form, which indicate that six electrons link the atoms and two electrons are left unpaired. The ozone molecule's three atoms are not arranged in a straight line.
Ques. What are the commercial production and use of oxygen? (5 marks)
Ans. Oxygen is prepared by fractional distillation of liquid air, which has the highest boiling point and is less volatile than nitrogen and argon. The process involves filtering air, removing moisture and carbon dioxide, compressing and cooling, and allowing the compressed air to expand. This process produces a product pure enough for most industrial purposes, with 99.5 percent purity for most purposes. The steel industry uses pure oxygen for "blowing" high-carbon steel, treating sewage, incineration of wastes, and in submarines and diving bells. Commercial oxygen has replaced ordinary air in the chemical industry for oxidation-controlled chemicals, and medical applications include oxygen tents, inhalators, and paediatric incubators.
Ques. What are the chemical properties of oxygen? (5 marks)
Ans. Oxygen, a nonmetallic element, exhibits large electronegativity and electron affinity values. It assumes a negative oxidation state in all its compounds, creating the oxide ion O2− through electron transfer. Oxygen is considered the "original'' oxidising agent, with its oxidation state lowered when reacting with an electron-donating substance. Oxygen forms diatomic species, O2, and triatomic species, O3, with some evidence for unstable triatomic species, O4. The intense reactivity of ozone is sometimes explained by one of the three oxygen atoms being in an "atomic" state. Oxygen forms a wide range of covalently bonded compounds, including oxides of nonmetals, organic compounds, common acids, and salts. It is present as the oxide ion, O2-, in the crystalline structure of solid metallic oxides. Oxygen's chemical properties include a melting point of -219°C, a boiling point of -183°C, a block density of 0.001308, an atomic number of 8, and a relative atomic mass of 15.999. Its key isotopes are 16O and its CAS number is 7782-44-7 etc.
Ques. What are the physical properties of oxygen? (2 marks)
Ans. Liquid oxygen, a colourless, odourless, and insipid gas, is slightly paramagnetic and reactive, forming oxides with elements except helium, neon, krypton, and argon. It is moderately soluble in water. Common allotropes include dioxygen and ozone, with trioxygen being the most reactive and causing lung tissue damage.
Ques. What is dioxygen? (3 marks)
Ans. Dioxygen, a gas-like allotrope of oxygen, is the most essential element in the living world and belongs to group 16 of the periodic table. Dioxygen is crucial for respiration and medical supplements, used in laser cutting and welding, metallurgy, rocket fuel, melting iron for steel, and producing nitric acid. Its flames are also utilised in laser cutting, welding, and metallurgy processes.
Ques. Define melting and boiling points. (2 marks)
Ans. The temperature at which a material turns from a solid to a liquid at atmospheric pressure is known as the melting point, whereas the temperature at which a substance begins to evaporate at atmospheric pressure is known as the boiling point.
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