Oxygen

 Symbol: O
 Atomic Number: 8
 Atomic Weight: 16
 Melting Point: -218 °C (-361 °F)
 Boiling Point: -183 °C (-297 °F)

Characteristics and Properties

 Oxygen is a diatomic, colorless, and odorless gas under normal
conditions.
 Oxygen is a reactive gas, it easily reacts with iron and other
metals to make them rusty.
 It can dissolve in the water easily. Marine life is dependent on the
dissolved oxygen in the water.

Uses
Oxygen is used by animals and plants for respiration. Besides
respiration, it has a lot of other uses in industrial, military, and
medical applications. Some uses of oxygen are:

 It is used by NASA in the rockets to efficiently burn the fuel.

 It is used for breathing underwater and in space.
 Hospitals use oxygen tanks to supply oxygen to the patients.
 It is used in the production of plastics, water filtration, and extraction of metal from their ores.

Facts
 The liquid form of oxygen has the blue
 Our Earth has the highest percentage of oxygen in the solar system.
 The most abundant element in our body is oxygen.
 The main oxygen producers are plants. They produce oxygen in a process called photosynthesis.

Where Is It Found?
As you know, oxygen is freely available in the atmosphere
that we breathe. Our atmosphere contains about 21%
oxygen. The upper atmosphere has a layer of ozone
(triatomic oxygen) that protect us from cancer causing rays
of the Sun.

Besides the atmosphere, oxygen is the major constituent of water by weight. All the water you
see in the oceans and the water that you drink is made of hydrogen and oxygen (H2O)
Discovery
Oxygen was known to man from early time because human have been breathing oxygen and
burning fire for food and heat. But, it was considered as a separate element when C.W. Scheele
discovered a gas that increased the burning rate of fire. He named this gas “Fire air” due to
increased burning of fire. But, Scheele was unable to publish research.

Another British scientist named Joseph Priestley discovered the oxygen independently, without
knowing about the Scheele’s discovery

Discovered by: C.W. Scheele and Joseph Priestly independent of each other.

Oxygen is a vital element for all the living things on Earth. Almost all the living things need the
oxygen to survive and stay alive (except few). Oxygen has transformed our Earth from deserted
planet to a green planet.

It is the most abundant element in the human body and 3 rd most abundant element in the
universe.

Carl Wilhelm Scheele Joseph Priestly