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Oxygen gas can also be produced through electrolysis of water into molecular oxygen and hydrogen. DC electricity must be used: if AC is used, the gases in each limb consist of hydrogen and oxygen in the explosive ratio 2:1. A similar method is the electrocatalytic O 2 evolution from oxides and oxoacids.
Solid oxygen O 2, like liquid oxygen, is a clear substance with a light sky-blue color caused by absorption in the red part of the visible light spectrum. Oxygen molecules have attracted attention because of the relationship between the molecular magnetization and crystal structures, electronic structures, and superconductivity.
There are several known allotropes of oxygen. The most familiar is molecular oxygen (O 2), present at significant levels in Earth's atmosphere and also known as dioxygen or triplet oxygen. Another is the highly reactive ozone (O 3). Others are: Atomic oxygen (O 1), a free radical. Singlet oxygen (O * 2), one of two metastable states of ...
The rest of the Earth's crust is formed also of oxygen compounds, most importantly calcium carbonate (in limestone) and silicates (in feldspars). Water-soluble silicates in the form of Na 4 SiO 4, Na 2 SiO 3, and Na 2 Si 2 O 5 are used as detergents and adhesives. [6] Peroxides retain some of oxygen's original molecular structure ((− O-O −).
The lowest excited state of the diatomic oxygen molecule is a singlet state. It is a gas with physical properties differing only subtly from those of the more prevalent triplet ground state of O 2. In terms of its chemical reactivity, however, singlet oxygen is far more reactive toward organic compounds.
Tetraoxygen was first predicted in 1924 by Gilbert N. Lewis, who proposed it as an explanation for the failure of liquid oxygen to obey Curie's law. [1] Though not entirely inaccurate, computer simulations indicate that although there are no stable O 4 molecules in liquid oxygen, O 2 molecules do tend to associate in pairs with antiparallel spins, forming transient O 4 units. [2]
The last destination for an electron along this chain is an oxygen molecule. In normal conditions, the oxygen is reduced to produce water; however, in about 0.1–2% of electrons passing through the chain (this number derives from studies in isolated mitochondria, though the exact rate in live organisms is yet to be fully agreed upon), oxygen ...
Triplet oxygen, 3 O 2, refers to the S = 1 electronic ground state of molecular oxygen (dioxygen). Molecules of triplet oxygen contain two unpaired electrons, making triplet oxygen an unusual example of a stable and commonly encountered diradical : [ 2 ] it is more stable as a triplet than a singlet .