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Oxygen

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Oxygen

Oxygen and its compounds play a key role in many of the important processes of life and industry. Oxygen in the biosphere is essential in the processes of respiration and metabolism, the means by which animals derive the energy needed to sustain life. Furthermore, oxygen is the most abundant element at the surface of the Earth. In combined form it is found in ores, earths, rocks, and gemstones, as well as in all living organisms. Oxygen is a gaseous chemical element in
Group VA of the periodic table. The chemical symbol for atomic oxygen is O, its atomic number is 8, and its atomic weight is 15.9994. Elemental oxygen is known principally in the gaseous form as the diatomic molecule, which makes up 20.95% of the volume of dry air. …show more content…

Several different structures are known for solid oxygen: solid type III, from the lowest temperatures achievable to 23.66 K; type II, from 23.66 to 43.76
K; and type I, from 43.76 to 54.39 K. The critical temperature for oxygen, the temperature above which it is impossible to liquefy the gas no matter how much pressure is applied, is 154.3 K (-118.9 deg C; -181.9 deg F). The pressure of liquid and gaseous oxygen coexisting in equilibrium at the critical temperature is 49.7 atmospheres. Oxygen gas exhibits a slight but important solubility in water. Molecular oxygen dissolved in water is required by aquatic organisms for their metabolic processes and is ultimately responsible for the oxidation and removal of organic wastes in water. The solubilities of gases depend on the temperature of the solution and the pressure of the gas over the solution. At 20 deg C (68 deg F) and an oxygen pressure of one atmosphere, the solubility of
O(2) in water is about 45 grams of oxygen per cubic meter of water, or 45 ppm
(parts per million). Molecular diatomic oxygen is a fairly stable molecule requiring a dissociation energy (the energy required to dissociate one mole of molecular oxygen in its ground state into two moles of atomic oxygen in its ground state) of 493.6 kilojoules per mole. The molecule is dissociated by ultraviolet radiation of any wavelength shorter than 193 nm. Solar radiation striking stratospheric oxygen dissociates it into atomic oxygen for this reason.

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