Oxygen Is One Of The Basic And Most Fundamental Elements Of Earth

The THING that sets the Earth apart from the rest of its siblings is the existence of water and oxygen. The presence of oxygen, so important for human life, is definitely one of the few characteristics which give the planet its distinctive status. Oxygen is one of the basic and most fundamental elements of Earth. Interestingly, about 50 per cent of the Earth’s crust — the outermost solid layer of a planet — is made up of chemicals or compounds that contain oxygen. Another fact, which shows how much oxygen we have in the atmosphere, is that the gas occupies 20 per cent of the entire atmosphere. To be more precise, oxygen’s voluminous share in the atmosphere is 20.95 per cent and its contribution by mass is 23.2 per cent. Even in the human body, oxygen and its compounds claim a share of 66 per cent. Oxygen is not only responsible for continuity of life, but it also provides a lifeline to countless industrial processes. Oxygen does instrumental work in the varied range of metallurgical processes, and for the generation of hightemperature flames. Its role in blast furnaces for the production of steel is well known. Oxygen is also an important component in the production of numerous synthetic chemicals and compounds. Without oxygen no combustion action can take place. This signifies a pivotal role for oxygen, especially in the areas where we generate power or energy by converting chemical energy. Combustion is a process of burning, which causes a chemical change that leads to oxidation and results in the generation of heat and light. The discovery of oxygen and claims of discovering it first are controversial issues. Three great scientists of modern age have been vying for the credit. Carl Scheele, Joseph Priestley and Antoine Lavoisier are the revered scientists who carried out several experiments that resulted in the discovery of oxygen. Later on, they tried to generate oxygen gas. Carl Scheele, a Swedish scientist, was born on Dec 9, 1742, and died in 1786. In 1770, Scheele joined a laboratory, where he discovered oxygen which was labelled as “fire air. This discovery took place sometime before 1773. He met with success in producing oxygen by using many methods. Joseph Priestley was born near Leeds, Great Britain, on March 13, 1733, and died in 1804. He is not only regarded as the inventor of soda water (1772), but is also credited with the discovery of seven gases besides oxygen — Nitrous vapour (NO2), nitrous air diminished (N2O), acid air (HCl), inflammable air (CO), alkaline air (NH3), vitriolic air (SO2) and fluor acid air (SiF4)). Priestley, in one of his experiments, employed a magnifying glass to direct sunlight on a specimen of mercury oxide. During the process he learned that the quantity of heat that resulted was due to the focusing of sunrays on that compound. In later experiments it was also learned that when a burning candle was exposed to that gas, it burnt with more brightness. When a mouse was tested in such a situation, the gas influenced it to make its life fourfold than the routine normal life. The gas was named then as “Dephlogisticated air”. Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794) was a French scientist, who had interest in astronomy, botany and geology. The twenty-year period, from 1770 - 1790, recalled in the history as an epoch, during which the science of chemistry was revolutionised. Antoine Lavoisier was instrumental in devising the revolution. He

is also famous for the scientific law, called the Law of conservation of mass (1785). He proved that during the course of chemical reactions, despite the presence of gases, no change in total mass occurs. He gave the actual concept of combustion and aspiration, which involves chemical reactions, with the active participation of a specific component of air, which he called oxygen. Lavoisier carried out an experiment in which he attempted to heat a mass of tin in a confined container. This resulted in the increase of the mass of tin, as the tin formed calx (calx is the crumbly deposit, which is produced when a metal or mineral has been subjected to calcination or combustion). That calx is currently identified as the oxide of tin or stannum (SnO). Furthermore, the confined container experienced low pressure, as the container was opened, a quantity of air rushed inside. Priestly who was visiting France in October 1774, met Lavoisier and told him about his work and about the discovery of Dephlogisticated air. Around September of 1774, Scheele also wrote to Lavoisier explaining his experiments and conveyed his desire to repeat one experiment that produced fire air (oxygen). Lavoisier carried out experiments on the laid down framework in November 1774. Lavoisier claimed the discovery of oxygen based on the reality that he was the first to introduce oxygen as an element. But it was Lavoisier who suggested its name. Oxy came from the Greek “oxus”, which means sharp. It was named so as it was believed to be the main ingredient in the formation of acids. The credit for the discovery of oxygen largely goes to Priestley who did the job in 1774. But flipping the history pages depicts a different story. Certain professional who are considered authority in the sphere of science and the relevant history, believe that this credit should go to a Polish scientist called Michael Sendivogius. It was Michael Sendivogius, who taught that air was no single substance and contained many components including a substance that gave life, which we now know as oxygen. He discovered the “elixir of life” in 1604 (170 years before the work done by the rest) while heating nitre (saltpeter). He passed on the relevant information in a book which is regarded as an authority.