OXYGEN

 

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(All Atoms)

 

 

 

 

 

Compounds

Properties and Reaction Tendencies

A colorless, odorless, tasteless nonmetal element, oxygen is gaseous at room temperature. When in liquid form and solid form at more extreme temperatures, oxygen appears to be a very pale blue.
Studying oxygen’s structure, one can observe that oxygen’s outermost layer only has six valance electrons when the level’s capacity is eight. Oxygen tries to gain electrons in its quest to become more stable, and thus is very willing to react with other elements. Substances are more likely to react with oxygen at higher temperatures: coal and petroleum only oxidize at high temperatures. Oxygen reacts in a multitude of combinations resulting in hundreds of different oxygen-containing compounds. Among the many are:

Name
Formula
More Information
Oxygen (II) Floride OF2

colorless gas, 70% F, 30% O

 
Water H2O Necessary to live, clear liquid at room temperature
Carbon Dioxide CO2 Colorless gas at room temperature, Produced in respiration, used for photosynthesis
 Hydrogen peroxide  H2O2  used for cleaning as an antiseptic
 Silicon Dioxide  SiO2  window glass, sand
 Calcium Carbonate  CaCO3  used by creatures to form skeletons
 Sulfur Dioxide  SO2  colorless gas that causes acid rain; a pollutant
Iron (II) Oxide Fe2O3 Rust
Nitrous Oxide N2O anaesthetic: "laughing gas"

 

A titanium oxide is used as a white pigment in paint.

Ozone (O3) forms a 3 mm thick protective layer around the Earth that keeps the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays away from the Earth’s surface. Pure ozone has a tinted blue color as a gas and a deep purple-blue color as a liquid and solid.