Syrgas
Oxygen. In this molecule two oxygen atoms stick together. In the air we breathe there is 21% of those molecules and they are essential to living organisms. If there is oxygen anywhere there is life. O2 is on the third place of the elements that are most common. In a pharmaceutical industry oxygen is often being used as production-material. Even though oxygen is important, it is still dangerous to inhale too much of it and it certainly can lead to oxygen toxicity. Excess oxygen in the blood pulls electrons away from different molecular structures. O2 itself is not flammable, but it accelerates combustion in chemical reactions.
Oxygen’s chemical structure
In this nonmetal element the oxygen atoms sit together in pairs. Each atom here has 4 valence electrons that are only theirs, and 4 valence electrons are shared between them. Oxygen is a well-known oxidizing agent (that is being the opposite to what an antioxidant is, oxygen is an oxidant). We will look at 3 different reactions when the oxidant is involved. Here below we see how oxygen is gaining electrons:
4Na + O2 ---> 2 Na2O
Oxygen got reduced by the sodium metal. What happened above was that sodium gained an oxidizing agent! And inside sodium oxide (the product) you can find “Na”-ions. Those have a positive charge thanks to the oxidant. Another two relevant chemical reactions in this industry including oxygen, is how oxygen gas reacts with nitrogen gas, and how oxygen reacts with carbon dioxide gas (they are production material).
N + O ---> (different comb.): NO, N2O, N2O3, NO2, N2O5
We get many different combinations of nitrogen oxides! N2O5 is solid at room. All of these products were created during an endothermic reaction (heat absorption occurred, the air was chilly). NO2 gas is as we mentioned before very toxic. Now let’s combine O2 and CO2. Here nothing will happen because CO2 is suffocating and inert (don’t want to mix). A CO gas is toxic though. You get it from carbon combustion:
(excess of carbon) 2 C + O2 (if air is limited) ---> 2 CO
Oxygen and risks
This gas can irritate the eyes and skin, and cause frostbite. Oxygen toxicity hurt the body-cells by oxidation, or in worst case kill the person. DNA mutation can happen but collapse of the lungs happens faster.
A devastation of alveoli in the lungs (also called atelectasis) would mean that the alveoli parts lost the volume or got filled with alveolar liquid, and then a person find it hard to breath. You can in best case scenario recover with treatment.
Add comment
Comments