Its official chemical symbol is O, and its atomic number is 8, which means that an oxygen atom has eight protons in its nucleus. Oxygen is a gas at room temperature and has no colour, smell or taste. Oxygen is found naturally as a molecule. Two oxygen atoms strongly bind together with a covalent double bond to form dioxygen or O 2. Ozone is another form of pure oxygen.
Ultraviolet light UV splits O 2 molecules into single oxygen atoms. The single oxygen atoms latch onto O 2 molecules to form O 3 the chemical formula for ozone. The stratosphere has higher concentrations of O 3 because there is more UV present. The ozone layer filters out UV, which reduces the opportunity to split O 2 molecules in the lower atmosphere troposphere , where we live.
Ozone can still form in the troposphere when O 2 is put under high heat and pressure. Car engines have the right conditions to produce ozone, which is a toxin, so modern cars use catalytic converters to convert O 3 back to O 2.
Oxygen becomes solid at temperatures below In both its liquid and solid states, the substances are clear with a light sky-blue colour. Oxygen is vital for life.
Most living things use oxygen for cellular respiration — the process by which cells obtain energy. The latter two are still acceptably named hydrogen and oxygen via Red Book , and commonly used for convenience. Add a comment.
Active Oldest Votes. Improve this answer. Nothing "unfortunate", "historical" or even ''inconsistent'' about that. The term "stable" refers to the state under an arbitrary set of conditions, basically STP, etc. There is also the chicken-and-egg ambiguity here. Are the elements named after the molecules or vise versa. To be consistent, the answer must be the same in all cases, from hydrogen to oxygen to bromine, and so on. Nothing "arbitrary" about that. Except for carbon, ALL elements have the same name as their most stable modification.
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Featured on Meta. Now live: A fully responsive profile. Version labels for answers. Linked Usually any atom needs 8 electrons in its outer orbit in order to stay stable. Explanation: As you say, O , is the oxygen atom Related questions Question f13ae. Question bb7b1. Question Question fd74b. Question f13b2. How do I find the molar mass of an element? What is an element?
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