Oxygen (O) - Element Information, Facts, Properties, Uses - Periodic Table of the Elements (2024)

The element Oxygen was discovered by W. Scheele in year 1771 in Sweden and United Kingdom. Oxygen was first isolated by W. Scheele in 1771. Oxygen derived its name from the Greek word oxy-, both 'sharp' and 'acid', and -gen, meaning 'acid-forming'.

W. Scheele obtained it by heating mercuric oxide and nitrates in 1771, but did not publish his findings until 1777. Joseph Priestley also prepared this new air by 1774, but only Lavoisier recognized it as a true element; he named it in 1777.

The table below shows the abundance of Oxygen in Universe, Sun, Meteorites, Earth's Crust, Oceans and Human Body.

The solid state structure of Oxygen is Base Centered Monoclinic.

The Crystal structure can be described in terms of its unit Cell. The unit Cells repeats itself in three dimensional space to form the structure.

Unit Cell Parameters

The unit cell is represented in terms of its lattice parameters, which are the lengths of the cell edges Lattice Constants (a, b and c)

and the angles between them Lattice Angles (alpha, beta and gamma).

The positions of the atoms inside the unit cell are described by the set of atomic positions ( x_i, y_i, z_i) measured from a reference lattice point.

The symmetry properties of the crystal are described by the concept of space groups. All possible symmetric arrangements of particles in three-dimensional space are described by the 230 space groups (219 distinct types, or 230 if chiral copies are considered distinct.

The number of atoms per unit cell in a simple cubic, face-centered cubic and body-centred cubic are 1,4,2 respectively.

Oxygen atoms have 8 electrons and the electronic shell structure is [2, 6] with Atomic Term Symbol (Quantum Numbers) ³P₂.

Ground State Electronic Configuration of Oxygen - neutral Oxygen atom

Abbreviated electronic configuration of Oxygen

The ground state abbreviated electronic configuration of Neutral Oxygen atom is [He] 2s2 2p4. The portion of Oxygen configuration that is equivalent to the noble gas of the preceding period, is abbreviated as [He]. For atoms with many electrons, this notation can become lengthy and so an abbreviated notation is used. This is important as it is the Valence electrons 2s2 2p4, electrons in the outermost shell that determine the chemical properties of the element.

Unabbreviated electronic configuration of neutral Oxygen

Complete ground state electronic configuration for the Oxygen atom, Unabbreviated electronic configuration

1s2 2s2 2p4

Atomic Structure of Oxygen

Oxygen atomic radius is 48 pm, while it's covalent radius is 73 pm.

Spectral Lines of Oxygen - Atomic Spectrum of Oxygen

A spectral line is a dark or bright line in an otherwise uniform and continuous spectrum, resulting from an excess or deficiency of photons in a narrow frequency range, compared with the nearby frequencies. Spectral lines are often used to identify atoms and molecules.

Spectral lines are the result of interaction between a quantum system and a single photon. A spectral line may be observed either as an emission line or an absorption line.

Spectral lines are highly atom-specific, and can be used to identify the chemical composition of any medium. Several elements, including helium, thallium, and caesium, were discovered by spectroscopic means. They are widely used to determine the physical conditions of stars and other celestial bodies that cannot be analyzed by other means.

Emission spectrum of Oxygen

Absorption spectrum of Oxygen

The electron affinity of Oxygen is 141 kJ/mol.

Ionization Energy of Oxygen

Ionization energy is the amount of energy required to remove an electron from an atom or molecule.in chemistry, this energy is expresed in kilocalories per mole (kcal/mol) or kilojoules per mole (kJ/mol).

Refer to table below for Ionization energies of Oxygen

Refer to below table for Oxygen Physical Properties

Elastic Properties

Hardness of Oxygen - Tests to Measure of Hardness of Element

Oxygen Electrical Properties

Electrical resistivity measures element's electrical resistance or how strongly it resists electric current.The SI unit of electrical resistivity is the ohm-metre (Ω⋅m). While Electrical conductivity is the reciprocal of electrical resistivity. It represents a element's ability to conduct electric current. The SI unit of electrical conductivity is siemens per metre (S/m).

Oxygen is a -. Refer to table below for the Electrical properties of Oxygen

Oxygen Heat and Conduction Properties

Oxygen Magnetic Properties

Optical Properties of Oxygen

Acoustic Properties of Oxygen

Refer to table below for Thermal properties of Oxygen

Enthalpies of Oxygen

Oxygen has 17 isotopes, with between 12 and 28 nucleons. Oxygen has 3 stable naturally occuring isotopes.

Isotopes of Oxygen - Naturally occurring stable Isotopes: 16O, 17O, 18O.