You know oxygen in air is colorless and you may have heard that liquid oxygen is pale blue, but did you know oxygen also occurs in pink, orange, red, black, and even a metallic form? At atmospheric pressure, liquid oxygen cools into solid oxygen, which forms blue crystals. However, as the pressure is increased and/or the temperature is lowered, phase transitions occur that change the structure of oxygen and also its color. Six phases of solid oxygen are known:
- α-phase: light blue -- forms at 1 atm below 23.8 K, monoclinic crystal structure
- β-phase: faint blue to pink -- forms at 1 atm below 43.8 K, rhombohedral crystal structure (at room temperature and high pressure, transforms to tetraoxygen, O4)
- γ-phase: faint blue -- forms at 1 atm below 54.36 K, cubic crystal structure
- δ-phase: orange -- forms at room temperature at pressure of 9 GPa
- ε-phase: dark-red to black -- forms at room temperature at pressures greater than 10 GPa
- ζ-phase: metallic -- forms at pressures greater than 96 GPa
Image: The octaoxygen or O8 molecule, which forms red crystals.
Comments
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Am a teacher trainer in Chemistry
Masoka Nairobi, Kenya.
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A lot of important information about Oxygen. Thanks. A study is required to be done regarding using these different type (rather forms) of Oxygen for porification of water & confined space, economically.
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hi i am a chemistry teacher from Pakistan. i am very thankful to you to share such an interesting information and i would like to share it with my students in school. i did not know that oxygen exists in many colors.
i like your information that oxygen exists in many colours.
irum
A chemistry teacher from Pakistan
Thank you very much!You help me know more about oxygen!
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Excellent, an application to certain everyday use would be greatly appreciated. Perhaps the combination of NaClO2 and a soft catalyst such as C2H4O2 and under certain collective arrangement to reflect the display of collected gases, including O2. It would be nice to have the laboratory environment to collective pull O2 when forcing varied DC current through an aqueous solution to separate its liquid state at the varies atmospheres! Thanks for your collective note doctor.