8 O Oxygen
Nonmetal, mass: 15.999 u, 3 stable isotopes (16, 17, 18), abundance rank (earth/space): 1/3Click image to magnify. Vial of glowing ultrapure oxygen, O2. Original size in cm: 1 x 5. How to make gases glow.
Oxygen, a very reactive gas, is the most abundant element on Earth. It is part of very many natural compounds, in minerals as in organic material and of course in water, H2O. Combustion usually is a reaction of a material with oxygen. Elemental oxygen in the form of O2 is to 21% part of our air and is used by humans and animals for respiration. It is produced by plants doing photosynthesis, most of it by algae in the sea and by forests on land. O3 is ozone, a poisonous gas, which in a high atmospheric layer blocks otherwise deadly UV rays from the Sun. That is, as long as the ozone layer isn't destroyed.

Fire: an exothermic reaction of wood with oxygen from the air.
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Page last changed on January 18. 2010
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