Oxygen is an essential element on our planet for keeping life in the form we are used to. It is an integral part of the atmosphere of our planet and is contained not only in air, but also in water, thanks to which life on Earth exists not only on land, but also in water.
As an element oxygen was first discovered in 1773 by Karl Wilhelm Schele, but since he was in no hurry to publish his work, for a long time Joseph Priestley was listed as the discoverer of oxygen.
Oxygen is not only necessary but also a curious element, here are some interesting facts about oxygen that you may not know yet.
It is poisonous
This gas is essential for the breathing of both animals and plants. It is interesting, but despite the fact that without it there would be no life, too much of it can lead to poisoning and even death. Symptoms of oxygen toxicity include loss of vision, coughing, muscle cramps, and cramps. At normal atmospheric pressure, oxygen poisoning occurs if its content in the air exceeds 50% (the usual oxygen content in the atmosphere is 21%).
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Clean gas
Pure oxygen without impurities has no color, taste or smell. However, pure oxygen rarely exists in nature without impurities.
Solid and liquid form
In solid and liquid form, oxygen is bluish in color. Under the influence of lower temperatures and increased pressure, blue oxygen crystals change color to orange, red, black and gray.
Conductivity
Oxygen is a non-metallic element. It has low thermal and electrical conductivity, but high ionization. This gas in its pure form does not conduct electricity well, but very quickly forms chemical bonds with other elements.
Valence
In nature, this gas is most often found in the divalent O2 molecule and the trivalent O3 (ozone) molecule. Singlet oxygen is found in the upper atmosphere, but its atoms quickly form chemical bonds with other elements.
Combustion
The process of ignition and combustion is impossible without oxygen, but this gas does not burn by itself.
Magnetism
Oxygen is paramagnetic, that is, it responds to the effect of a magnetic field (attracted by a magnet only in the presence of a strong magnetic field), has a positive magnetic susceptibility, but very weak.
The human body
Almost two-thirds of a person's mass is oxygen. This makes it the most abundant element in the body. Most of the oxygen in our body is part of the water molecule. Despite the fact that there are almost twice as many hydrogen molecules in our body, they are much lighter. However, in terms of mass in the Universe, hydrogen significantly exceeds oxygen.
Northern Lights
Oxygen molecules in motion are responsible for the bright red, yellow and green colors of the aurora.
Molecular mass
Until 1961, the mass of the oxygen atom was the standard for the atomic mass of other elements. After science expanded its understanding of isotopes, carbon replaced oxygen as the standard atomic mass.
Hope Chikanchi