Oxygen

Oxygen is Very Significant to Us

Oxygen is one of the most abundant elements on Earth, and a good thing too, as it’s also one of the most important ones. Oxygen was discovered in 1774, and it’s debated by who. Most say that the discovery was due to Joseph Priestley in Wiltshire, England, but it could be originally discovered by Carl Wilhelm Scheele in Sweden.  It’s in the water molecule, it’s in our atmosphere as a gas, and it’s also in a good amount of Earth’s crust in various rocks and minerals. Approximately 46 percent of the crust is Oxygen. Along with carbon, it’s also essential for life, and is a part of almost every biological molecule in our bodies. Various fuels depend on Oxygen, and it is also provides most of the energy for industry and heating. Oxygen most commonly exists in the atmosphere as a colorless and odorless gas. It is a diatomic molecule, O2 (Stwertka, 47). Approximately 20.95 percent of the atmosphere is Oxygen by volume. Oxygen is constantly used, in decomposition and combustion for example, but is also constantly replenished by photosynthesis in plants. The chlorophyll in plants use energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide (which is produced when we exhale) into carbohydrates and oxygen. Oxygen is continually consumed and continually reproduced in a cycle that makes the molecule stay at a constant level.

Blast Furnace Diagram, Oxygen Makes it Much Hotter

Oxygen is used in various industrial chemicals, like sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and other compounds. The most reactant variant of Oxygen is ozone O3, which is applied in assorted chemical reactions. The goal is to boost reaction rate and oxidation of unwanted compounds. Hot oxygen air is required to melt iron and steel located in the blast furnaces.Some companies use oxygen for destroying rocks in mining operations. It is commonly used for cutting, melting, and welding metals.

Oxygen Periodic Square and Valence Electrons

Oxygen’s position on the periodic table sits at Group 16, Period 2, block P. The atomic number of Oxygen is 8, and it exists as a gas at room temperature. The electron configuration is 1s2, 2s2, 2p4, or [He] 2s2, 2p4. The atomic radius, non-bonded, is 1.52, while the covalent radius is 0.64.