Oxygen

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

achieved the isolation of oxygen somewhat
later, was the first to publicly announce his findings. The interpretation of
the findings of Priestley and the resultant clarification of the nature of
oxygen as an element was accomplished by the French scientist Antoine-Laurent
LAVOISIER (1743-94). Lavoisier's experimental work, which extended and improved
upon Priestley's experiments, was principally responsible for the understanding
of COMBUSTION and the establishment of the law of conservation of matter.
Lavoisier gave oxygen its name, which is derived from two Greek words that mean
"acid former." Lavoisier held the mistaken idea that oxides, when dissolved in
water, would form only acids. It is true that some oxides when dissolved in
water do form acids; for example, sulfur dioxide forms sulfurous acid. Some
oxides, however, such as sodium oxide, dissolve in water to form bases, as in
the reaction to form sodium hydroxide; therefore oxygen was actually
inappropriately ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

of oxygen have been found: one with mass 16
(99. 759% of all oxygen), one with mass 17 (0.037%); and one with mass 18
(0.204%). The rarer isotopes, principally the latter, find their major use in
labeling experiments used by scientists to follow the steps of chemical
reactions. If oxygen at a pressure of one atmosphere is cooled, it will liquefy
at 90.18 K (-182.97 deg C; -297.35 deg F), the normal boiling point of oxygen,
and it will solidify at 54.39 K (-218.76 deg C; -361.77 deg F), the normal
melting point of oxygen. The liquid and solid forms of oxygen have a pale blue
color. Several different structures are known for solid oxygen: solid type III,
from the lowest temperatures ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library. Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports, and research papers in 2 minutes or less.

CITE THIS PAGE: