oxygen :: essays research papers fc

Oxygen   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Oxygen Atomic number8Atomic weight15.9994Melting point-218.4oC (-361.1oF) Boiling point-183.0oC (-297.4oF) Density (1 atom, 0oC) 1.429 g/lValence2electronic config.2-6 or 1s22s22p4.Oxygen is one of the must important factors that made it possible for life to exist in this planet. Oxygen is also one of the elements must found in earth. Oxygen can be found in in metals, water, and even the one thin that protects us from the powerful sunrays. Oxygen is a very unstable element, which makes it easy to make compounds with other elements creating different kinds of solids and liquids. Oxygen is found in the air as O2, and found in the ozone as O3. Oxygen is essential to all planets’ life. The Discovery of Oxygen   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On August 1, 1774, Joseph Priestly examined the effect of intense heat on mercuric oxide. He noted that an air or gas was readily expelled from the specimen. To his surprise a candle burned in this with a remarkably vigorous flame. He called this new substance dephlogisticated air in terms of the current chemical theory of combustion. When he went to Paris on 1775 he showed his discovery to Antoine Lavoisier. When Antoine examined the gas he found that dephlogisticated air combined with metals and other substance. Because some of the compounds form acids he called the gas Oxygen form the Greek words for sour and I Produce.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Oxygen in the Atmosphere   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Atmosphere surrounding the earth is a mechanical mixture of gases. The most important of these gases are oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. Oxygen is the essential element for life. It is odorless, colorless, tasteless, and slightly heavier than air. The chief commercial source of oxygen is the atmosphere. Oxygen may be separated from the mixture of gases that make up the atmosphere. This is done by physical means by subjecting air to very high pressures and low temperatures until a point is reached where it passes form the gaseous into the liquid state. Than the liquid is introduce to some warm, so that nitrogen, which has a lower boiling point then oxygen, evaporates off. Oxygen as first prepared by heating certain metals oxides, including mercury oxide. Ozone   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ozone (O3), named for the Greek word for â€Å"smell,† is a poisonous, colorless and tasteless gas with a distinctive smell. Molecules of ozone are probably the source of the smell that can be detected close to working electrical equipment such as motors and TVs.