8 · O
Oxygen
Prepared by Scheele around 1772 and published by Priestley in 1774. Lavoisier identifies it as an element and names it in 1777.
Identity
- Atomic number
- 8
- Symbol
- O
- Canonical name
- Oxygen
- Category
- nonmetal
- Group
- 16
- Period
- 2
- Block
- p
Properties
These quantities come from the Periodic Table JSON compilation. They have not yet been checked, one by one, against CIAAW atomic weights or NIST measurements. A value marked estimated is not a measurement.
- Atomic mass
- 15.999 u
- Electron configuration
- [He] 2s2 2p4
- Electrons per shell
- 2, 6
- Standard state
- gas
- Density
- 1.429 g/L
- Melting point
- 54.36 K
- Boiling point
- 90.188 K
- Electronegativity
- 3.44 Pauling
- First ionization energy
- 1,313.9 kJ/mol
- Electron affinity
- 140.976 kJ/mol
History
Fire air, not published at once
Isolation · jointly credited · about 1772
Scheele prepares oxygen around 1771–1772. Publication waits until 1777: the experiment date is not the publication date.
First publication
Isolation · jointly credited · 1774
Priestley publishes the preparation of “dephlogisticated air.” He does not yet treat it as the principle of acids.
Interpretation and name
Identification · confirmed · 1777
Lavoisier treats it as an element and names it oxygen. Observing the gas, publishing it, and identifying it as an element are three moments.
Etymology
- Theme
- property
- Language
- grec
- Root
- oxys + genes
- Meaning
- acid-former
The name comes from an acid theory later revised. It was kept.
Scientists
Places and institutions
- Paris — historical setting : France — present country : France
See also
Sources
- IUPAC, Periodic Table of the Elements
- Bowserinator, Periodic Table JSON. Compilation secondaire d’où viennent les grandeurs physiques importées (masse, densité, températures, énergies). Elles ne sont pas revérifiées une à une auprès du NIST ou de la CIAAW.
- John Emsley, Nature’s Building Blocks: An A–Z Guide to the Elements