oxygen
/ˈɒksɪdʒ(ə)n
/noun [mass noun]
A colourless, odourless reactive gas, the chemical element of atomic number 8 and the life-supporting component of the air: if breathing stops, there is no oxygen getting to the brain and the cells begin to die hydrogen and carbon in the fuel combine with the oxygen in the air to form carbon dioxide and water [as modifier]: an oxygen supply (Symbol: O) Energy is generated by the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen across a catalytic membrane....
- Solar panels power an electrolyser that separates water into hydrogen and oxygen.
- In addition, the very reactive singlet oxygen can be generated by an input of energy.
Oxygen is essential to plant and animal life and is a constituent of most organic compounds. It forms about 20 per cent of the earth’s atmosphere, and is the most abundant element in the earth’s crust, mainly in the form of oxides, silicates, and carbonates.
Derivatives
oxygenic
- The simultaneous presence of strong oxidants and strong reductants during oxygenic photosynthesis is the basis for regulation.
- An excess of light brings about the inactivation of oxygenic photosynthesis, a phenomenon known as photoinhibition.
- While the three classes perform the same reaction, they do so under different oxygenic conditions: class I is strictly aerobic, class II is operational in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions and class III is strictly anaerobic.
oxygenous
- A process for separating oxygenous organic compounds from aqueous media by liquid-liquid extraction with an organic extraction agent.
- In the case of distillation columns or in the case of reactors, these oxygenous gases are generally metered into the bottom, for example into the bottom circuit.
Origin
Late 18th century: from French (principe) oxygène 'acidifying constituent' (because at first it was held to be the essential component in the formation of acids).