Ozone (chemical element): properties, formula, designation

The most valuable for all mankind has such properties as ozone. The chemical element by which it is formed is oxygen O. In fact, ozone O ₃ is one of the allotropic oxygenate modifications, consisting of three formula units (O ÷ O ÷ O). The first and more known compound is oxygen itself, more precisely a gas that is formed by its two atoms (O = O) -O ₂ .

Allotropy is the ability of a single chemical element to form a series of simple compounds that are different in properties. Thanks to it, mankind has studied and uses such substances as diamond and graphite, monoclinic and rhombic sulfur, oxygen and ozone. A chemical element that has this capability is not necessarily limited to only two modifications, some have more.

Connection history

The constituent unit of many organic and mineral substances, including one such as ozone, is a chemical element whose designation is O-oxigen, in translation from Greek, "oxys" is sour, and "gignomai" gives birth.

For the first time, the new allotropic modification of oxygen during experiments with electric discharges was discovered in 1785 by the Dutchman Martin van Marun, his attention was attracted by a specific smell. And a century later the Frenchman Shenbain noted the presence of the same after a thunderstorm, as a result of which the gas was called "smelling." But scientists were somewhat deceived, believing that their sense of smell was smelled by ozone itself. The smell they felt belonged to organic compounds oxidized by reaction with O ₃ , since the gas is very reactive.

Electronic structure

The same structural fragment has O2 and O3 is a chemical element. Ozone has a more complex structure. In oxygen, everything is simple - two oxygen atoms are connected by a double bond consisting of the ϭ and π-component, according to the valence of the element. O ₃ has several resonant structures. A multiple bond connects two oxygen, and the third has a single bond. Thus, due to the migration of the π-component, in the general picture, three atoms have a one and a half connection. This connection is shorter than single, but longer than double. The experiments conducted by scientists exclude the probability of molecule cyclicity.

Synthesis methods

To form a gas such as ozone, the chemical element oksigen must be in a gaseous medium in the form of individual atoms. Such conditions are created when the O ₂ oxygen molecules collide with electrons during electrical discharges or other particles with high energy, as well as when it is irradiated with ultraviolet.

The lion's share of the total amount of ozone in the natural conditions of the atmosphere is formed by the photochemical method. A person prefers to use other methods in chemical activity, such as, for example, electrolytic synthesis. It consists in placing platinum electrodes in the aqueous medium of the electrolyte and starting up a current. Reaction Scheme:

H ₂ O + O ₂ → O ₃ + H ₂ + e ^-

Physical properties

Oxygen (O) is a constituent unit of a substance such as ozone, a chemical element whose formula, as well as the relative molar mass, are indicated in the Mendeleyev table. Forming O ₃ , the oxygen obtains properties that are radically different from those of O ₂ .

Gas of blue color is the usual state of such a compound as ozone. The chemical element, the formula, the quantitative characteristics - all this was determined in the identification and study of this substance. The boiling point for it is -111.9 ° C, the liquefied state has a dark violet color, while further lowering to -197.2 ° C, melting begins. In a solid aggregate state, ozone acquires a black color with a purple tint. Its solubility is ten times that of oxygen O ₂ . At the most insignificant concentrations in the air, the smell of ozone is felt, it is sharp, specific and resembles the smell of metal.

Chemical properties

Very active, from a reactionary point of view, is ozone gas. The chemical element that forms it is oxygen. The characteristics that determine the behavior of ozone in interaction with other substances are the high oxidizing ability and instability of the gas itself. At elevated temperatures, it decomposes at an unprecedented rate, and the process accelerates catalysts such as metal oxides, chlorine, nitrogen dioxide and others. The properties of the oxidizer are inherent in ozone due to the peculiarities of the structure of the molecule and the mobility of one of the oxygen atoms, which, splitting off, turns the gas into oxygen: O ₃ → O ₂ + O ·

Oxygen (a brick from which molecules of substances such as oxygen and ozone are built) are a chemical element. As written in the reaction equations - O ·. Ozone oxidizes all metals, except gold, platinum and its subgroup. It reacts with gases in the atmosphere - oxides of sulfur, nitrogen and other. Organic substances do not remain inert, especially the rapid processes of breaks of multiple bonds through the formation of intermediate compounds. It is extremely important that reaction products are harmless to the environment and human. It is water, oxygen, higher oxides of various elements, carbon oxides. The interaction with ozone does not involve binary compounds of calcium, titanium and silicon with oxygen.

Application

The main area where "smelling" gas is applied is ozonization. This method of sterilization is much more effective and safer for living organisms than disinfection with chlorine. When ozone water is purified, no toxic methane derivatives are produced, which are replaced by dangerous halogen.

Increasingly, such an ecological method of sterilization is used in the food industry. Ozone treats refrigeration equipment, warehouses for products, with the help of it, eliminates odors.

For medicine, the disinfecting properties of ozone are also irreplaceable. They disinfect wounds, physiological solutions. Ozonize the venous blood, and "smelling" gas treat a number of chronic diseases.

Finding in nature and meaning

A simple ozone substance is an element of the gas composition of the stratosphere, a region of near-Earth space located at a distance of the order of 20-30 km from the surface of the planet. Isolation of this compound occurs during the processes associated with electrical discharges, during welding, the operation of the copier apparatus. But it is in the stratosphere that 99% of the total amount of ozone in the Earth's atmosphere is formed and contains.

The presence of gas in near-Earth space proved to be vital. It forms in it the so-called ozone layer, which protects all life from the deadly ultraviolet radiation of the Sun. Strangely enough, but on a par with huge benefits, the gas itself is dangerous for people. The increase in the concentration of ozone in the air that a person breathes is harmful to the body, due to its extreme chemical activity.