Oxygen is one of the elements most crucial to our survival as human beings; without it, we would not exist in our current form. It is vitally important to life on Earth and exists in massive quantities and in various forms throughout our planet. The sheer amount of oxygen is almost incomprehensible, existing from the deepest ocean trenches to the highest mountain tops. It is the third most abundant element on Earth.
Originally named oxy-géne by the Greeks for “acid forming”, the discovery of oxygen was credited to Joseph Priestley in 1774. Soon after, it became a household name. While Priestley’s discovery may have seemed impressive, someone discovered how to produce oxygen even before him. In 1608, Cornelius Drebbel, the inventor of the first submarine, was able to produce oxygen by focusing sunlight on saltpeter (an oxygen compound). Even though he was the first to produce oxygen, not much was known about it at that time, so Priestley was given the credit for the discovery of the element.…show more content… Oxygen’s atomic number is 8; therefore it is a very simple element. A simple element is one of the first 18 elements. These make up much of the Earth. Oxygen’s atomic mass is 15.9994 and its mass number is 16 because it has 8 protons and 8 neutrons. Atomic mass is the sum of the protons and neutrons; electrons weigh almost nothing and contribute very little to an atom's weight. Electrons do contribute to the reactivity of an element and since 6 of the 8 electrons are valence, oxygen is a very reactive element. In these common reactions, oxygen can form an oxide or an acid compound with many other elements. As a result of similarities in these traits with other elements, oxygen was placed in the Chalcogens family. Oxygen, as an element at room temperature, is invisible, odorless, and gaseous. When temperatures are lower than -362℉ oxygen is solid and when temperatures are less than -298℉ it is in a liquid
