Oxygen - the friendly element

Oxygen is very friendly with other chemical elements & very helpful for life on Earth, says Allan Blackman from AUT in ep 58 of Elemental.

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 58 of Elemental.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details