Oxygen is one of the few elements that exists as allotropes, which are different forms in the same physical state.
Elemental oxygen is O.
The oxygen that we breath in air is actually dioxygen or O2.
There is also trioxygen, or ozone, O3.
Oxygen is very friendly with other chemical elements as it is very reactive.
Elemental oxygen is paramagnetic as it contains two unpaired electrons.
It is very helpful for life on Earth, as the oxygen cycle drives most life on earth, says Allan Blackman from AUT, in ep 56 of Elemental.
Photo: RNZ
You can subscribe to the Elemental podcast for free, at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, RadioPublic and iHeartRADIO.
The Elemental podcast is celebrating 150 years since the periodic table was first published by Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev.
Find out more about events during the United Nation’s International Year of the Periodic Table.
Professor Allan Blackman is at Auckland University of Technology.
