Specifications: Oxygen Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. It is a member of the chalcogen group on the periodic table, and is a highly reactive nonmetallic period 2 element that readily forms compounds (notably oxides) with almost all other elements. At standard temperature and pressure two atoms of the element bind to form dioxygen, a colorless, odorless, tasteless diatomic gas with the formula O2. Oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe by mass after hydrogen and helium and the most abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust. Oxygen constitutes 88.8% of the mass of water and 20.9% of the volume of air. All the major classes of structural molecules in living organisms, such as proteins, carbohydrates, and fats contain oxygen, as do the major inorganic compounds that comprise animal shells, teeth, and bone. Oxygen in the form of O2 is produced from water by cyanobacteria, algae and plants during photosynthesis and is used in cellular respiration for all complex life. Oxygen is toxic to anaerobic organisms, which were the dominant form of early life on Earth until O2 began to accumulate in the atmosphere 2.4 billion years ago. Another form (allotrope) of oxygen, ozone (O3), helps protect the biosphere from ultraviolet radiation with the high-altitude ozone layer, but is a pollutant near the surface where it is a by-product of smog. Oxygen was independently discovered by Joseph Priestley and Carl Wilhelm Scheele in the 1770s, but Priestley is usually given priority because he published his findings first. The name oxygen was coined in 1777 by Antoine Lavoisier, whose experiments with oxygen helped to discredit the then-popular phlogiston theory of combustion and corrosion. Oxygen is produced industrially by fractional distillation of liquefied air, chemical means using zeolite, concentration of oxygen in air, electrolysis of water and other means. Uses of oxygen include the production of steel, plastics and textiles; rocket fuels; oxygen therapy; and life support in aircraft, submarines, spaceflight and diving.
