Naked Science Forum

Non Life Sciences => Chemistry => Topic started by: DoctorBeaver on 09/02/2008 12:06:56

Title: Is there such a thing as O4?
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 09/02/2008 12:06:56

O₂ - oxygen
O₃ - ozone

Does O₄ exist?

Title: Is there such a thing as O4?
Post by: another_someone on 09/02/2008 15:01:21

If it exists, I would imagine it to be extremely fragile (maybe a transient existence - even ozone is not that stable, but O₄ would be very much less so).

Title: Is there such a thing as O4?
Post by: lightarrow on 09/02/2008 15:37:06

Quote from: DoctorBeaver on 09/02/2008 12:06:56

O₂ - oxygen
O₃ - ozone

Does O₄ exist?

Yes, it's very unstable. Amazingly, it's O₈ to be more stable than O₄:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraoxygen

O₈, also called "red oxygen", is formed compressing at room temperature common oxygen between 10 and 96 GPa (1 GPa ≈ 10⁴ atm = 10,000 atm). At higher pressures it becomes metallic.

It's also interesting the colour variation of oxygen with pressure:
light blue --> pink --> orange --> dark red --> metallic. [:o]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_oxygen

Title: Is there such a thing as O4?
Post by: DoctorBeaver on 09/02/2008 16:29:00

Grazie, Alberto  [:)]

Title: Is there such a thing as O4?
Post by: lightarrow on 09/02/2008 23:08:25

Quote from: DoctorBeaver on 09/02/2008 16:29:00

Grazie, Alberto  [:)]

Prego!