1.
Melting point
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The melting point of a solid is the temperature at which it changes state from solid to liquid at atmospheric pressure. At the melting point the solid and liquid phase exist in equilibrium, the melting point of a substance depends on pressure and is usually specified at standard pressure. When considered as the temperature of the change from liquid to solid. Because of the ability of some substances to supercool, the point is not considered as a characteristic property of a substance. For most substances, melting and freezing points are approximately equal, for example, the melting point and freezing point of mercury is 234.32 kelvins. However, certain substances possess differing solid-liquid transition temperatures, for example, agar melts at 85 °C and solidifies from 31 °C to 40 °C, such direction dependence is known as hysteresis. The melting point of ice at 1 atmosphere of pressure is close to 0 °C. In the presence of nucleating substances the freezing point of water is the same as the melting point, the chemical element with the highest melting point is tungsten, at 3687 K, this property makes tungsten excellent for use as filaments in light bulbs. Many laboratory techniques exist for the determination of melting points, a Kofler bench is a metal strip with a temperature gradient. Any substance can be placed on a section of the strip revealing its thermal behaviour at the temperature at that point, differential scanning calorimetry gives information on melting point together with its enthalpy of fusion. A basic melting point apparatus for the analysis of crystalline solids consists of an oil bath with a transparent window, the several grains of a solid are placed in a thin glass tube and partially immersed in the oil bath. The oil bath is heated and with the aid of the melting of the individual crystals at a certain temperature can be observed. In large/small devices, the sample is placed in a heating block, the measurement can also be made continuously with an operating process. For instance, oil refineries measure the point of diesel fuel online, meaning that the sample is taken from the process. This allows for more frequent measurements as the sample does not have to be manually collected, for refractory materials the extremely high melting point may be determined by heating the material in a black body furnace and measuring the black-body temperature with an optical pyrometer. For the highest melting materials, this may require extrapolation by several hundred degrees, the spectral radiance from an incandescent body is known to be a function of its temperature. An optical pyrometer matches the radiance of a body under study to the radiance of a source that has been previously calibrated as a function of temperature, in this way, the measurement of the absolute magnitude of the intensity of radiation is unnecessary. However, known temperatures must be used to determine the calibration of the pyrometer, for temperatures above the calibration range of the source, an extrapolation technique must be employed
2.
Water
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Water is a transparent and nearly colorless chemical substance that is the main constituent of Earths streams, lakes, and oceans, and the fluids of most living organisms. Its chemical formula is H2O, meaning that its molecule contains one oxygen, Water strictly refers to the liquid state of that substance, that prevails at standard ambient temperature and pressure, but it often refers also to its solid state or its gaseous state. It also occurs in nature as snow, glaciers, ice packs and icebergs, clouds, fog, dew, aquifers, Water covers 71% of the Earths surface. It is vital for all forms of life. Only 2. 5% of this water is freshwater, and 98. 8% of that water is in ice and groundwater. Less than 0. 3% of all freshwater is in rivers, lakes, and the atmosphere, a greater quantity of water is found in the earths interior. Water on Earth moves continually through the cycle of evaporation and transpiration, condensation, precipitation. Evaporation and transpiration contribute to the precipitation over land, large amounts of water are also chemically combined or adsorbed in hydrated minerals. Safe drinking water is essential to humans and other even though it provides no calories or organic nutrients. There is a correlation between access to safe water and gross domestic product per capita. However, some observers have estimated that by 2025 more than half of the population will be facing water-based vulnerability. A report, issued in November 2009, suggests that by 2030, in developing regions of the world. Water plays an important role in the world economy, approximately 70% of the freshwater used by humans goes to agriculture. Fishing in salt and fresh water bodies is a source of food for many parts of the world. Much of long-distance trade of commodities and manufactured products is transported by boats through seas, rivers, lakes, large quantities of water, ice, and steam are used for cooling and heating, in industry and homes. Water is an excellent solvent for a variety of chemical substances, as such it is widely used in industrial processes. Water is also central to many sports and other forms of entertainment, such as swimming, pleasure boating, boat racing, surfing, sport fishing, Water is a liquid at the temperatures and pressures that are most adequate for life. Specifically, at atmospheric pressure of 1 bar, water is a liquid between the temperatures of 273.15 K and 373.15 K
3.
Polytetrafluoroethylene
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Polytetrafluoroethylene is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene that has numerous applications. The best known name of PTFE-based formulas is Teflon by Chemours. Chemours is a spin-off of DuPont Co. which discovered the compound in 1938, PTFE is a fluorocarbon solid, as it is a high-molecular-weight compound consisting wholly of carbon and fluorine. PTFE is hydrophobic, neither water nor water-containing substances wet PTFE, PTFE has one of the lowest coefficients of friction of any solid. PTFE is used as a coating for pans and other cookware. It is very non-reactive, partly because of the strength of carbon–fluorine bonds, where used as a lubricant, PTFE reduces friction, wear and energy consumption of machinery. It is commonly used as a material in surgical interventions. Also, it is employed as coating on catheters, this interferes with the ability of bacteria and other infectious agents to adhere to catheters. PTFE was accidentally discovered in 1938 by Roy Plunkett while he was working in New Jersey for DuPont. Since Plunkett was measuring the amount of gas used by weighing the bottle, he became curious as to the source of the weight and he found the bottles interior coated with a waxy white material that was oddly slippery. Analysis showed that it was polymerized perfluoroethylene, with the iron from the inside of the container having acted as a catalyst at high pressure, Kinetic Chemicals patented the new fluorinated plastic in 1941, and registered the Teflon trademark in 1945. By 1948, DuPont, which founded Kinetic Chemicals in partnership with General Motors, was producing two million pounds of Teflon brand PTFE per year in Parkersburg, West Virginia. In 1954, the wife of French engineer Marc Grégoire urged him to try the material he had been using on fishing tackle on her cooking pans and he subsequently created the first Teflon-coated, non-stick pans under the brandname Tefal. In the United States, Marion A. Trozzolo, who had been using the substance on scientific utensils, marketed the first US-made Teflon-coated pan, The Happy Pan, however, Tefal was not the only company to utilize PTFE in nonstick cookware coatings. Other cookware companies, such as Meyer Corporations Anolon, use Teflon nonstick coatings purchased from DuPont, in the 1990s, it was found that PTFE could be radiation cross-linked above its melting point in an oxygen-free environment. Electron beam processing is one example of radiation processing, cross-linked PTFE has improved high-temperature mechanical properties and radiation stability. This was significant because, for years, irradiation at ambient conditions has been used to break down PTFE for recycling. This radiation-induced chain scission allows it to be more easily reground, PTFE is produced by free-radical polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene
4.
Fluorine
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Fluorine is a chemical element with symbol F and atomic number 9. It is the lightest halogen and exists as a highly toxic pale yellow diatomic gas at standard conditions, as the most electronegative element, it is extremely reactive, almost all other elements, including some noble gases, form compounds with fluorine. Among the elements, fluorine ranks 24th in universal abundance and 13th in terrestrial abundance, proposed as an element in 1810, fluorine proved difficult and dangerous to separate from its compounds, and several early experimenters died or sustained injuries from their attempts. Only in 1886 did French chemist Henri Moissan isolate elemental fluorine using low-temperature electrolysis, industrial production of fluorine gas for uranium enrichment, its largest application, began during the Manhattan Project in World War II. Owing to the expense of refining pure fluorine, most commercial applications use fluorine compounds, the rest of the fluorite is converted into corrosive hydrogen fluoride en route to various organic fluorides, or into cryolite which plays a key role in aluminium refining. Organic fluorides have very high chemical and thermal stability, their uses are as refrigerants, electrical insulation and cookware. Pharmaceuticals such as atorvastatin and fluoxetine also contain fluorine, and the fluoride ion inhibits dental cavities, global fluorochemical sales amount to more than US$15 billion a year. Fluorocarbon gases are generally greenhouse gases with global-warming potentials 100 to 20,000 times that of carbon dioxide, organofluorine compounds persist in the environment due to the strength of the carbon–fluorine bond. Fluorine has no metabolic role in mammals, a few plants synthesize organofluorine poisons that deter herbivores. Fluorine atoms have nine electrons, one fewer than neon, and electron configuration 1s22s22p5, the outer electrons are ineffective at nuclear shielding, and experience a high effective nuclear charge of 9 −2 =7, this affects the atoms physical properties. Fluorines first ionization energy is third-highest among all elements, behind helium and neon and it also has a high electron affinity, second only to chlorine, and tends to capture an electron to become isoelectronic with the noble gas neon, it has the highest electronegativity of any element. Fluorine atoms have a small covalent radius of around 60 picometers, similar to those of its period neighbors oxygen, conversely, bonds to other atoms are very strong because of fluorines high electronegativity. Unreactive substances like powdered steel, glass fragments, and asbestos fibers react quickly with cold fluorine gas, wood, reactions of elemental fluorine with metals require varying conditions. Some solid nonmetals react vigorously in liquid air temperature fluorine, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide combine readily with fluorine, the latter sometimes explosively, sulfuric acid exhibits much less activity, requiring elevated temperatures. Hydrogen, like some of the metals, reacts explosively with fluorine. Carbon, as black, reacts at room temperature to yield fluoromethane. Graphite combines with fluorine above 400 °C to produce non-stoichiometric carbon monofluoride, higher temperatures generate gaseous fluorocarbons, heavier halogens react readily with fluorine as does the noble gas radon, of the other noble gases, only xenon and krypton react, and only under special conditions. At room temperature, fluorine is a gas of diatomic molecules and it has a characteristic pungent odor detectable at 20 ppb
5.
Plastic
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Plastic is a material consisting of any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic compounds that are malleable and can be molded into solid objects. Plastics are typically organic polymers of high mass, but they often contain other substances. They are usually synthetic, most commonly derived from petrochemicals, due to their relatively low cost, ease of manufacture, versatility, and imperviousness to water, plastics are used in an enormous and expanding range of products, from paper clips to spaceships. They have already displaced many traditional materials, such as wood, stone, horn and bone, leather, paper, metal, glass, and ceramic, in most of their former uses. In developed countries, about a third of plastic is used in packaging, other uses include automobiles, furniture, and toys. In the developing world, the ratios may be different - for example, the worlds first fully synthetic plastic was bakelite, invented in New York in 1907 by Leo Baekeland who coined the term plastics. Toward the end of the century, one approach to this problem was met with wide efforts toward recycling, the word plastic is derived from the Greek πλαστικός meaning capable of being shaped or molded, from πλαστός meaning molded. The common word plastic should not be confused with the technical adjective plastic, used for insulating parts in electrical fixtures, paper laminated products, thermally insulation foams. Problems include the probability of moldings naturally being dark colors, One of the most expensive commercial polymers. It forms the basis of artistic and commercial acrylic paints when suspended in water with the use of other agents, polytetrafluoroethylene – Heat-resistant, low-friction coatings, used in things like non-stick surfaces for frying pans, plumbers tape and water slides. It is more known as Teflon. Urea-formaldehyde – One of the aminoplasts and used as an alternative to phenolics. Used as an adhesive and electrical switch housings. Early plastics were bio-derived materials such as egg and blood proteins, in 1600 BC, Mesoamericans used natural rubber for balls, bands, and figurines. Treated cattle horns were used as windows for lanterns in the Middle Ages, materials that mimicked the properties of horns were developed by treating milk-proteins with lye. In the 1800s, as industrial chemistry developed during the Industrial Revolution, the development of plastics also accelerated with Charles Goodyears discovery of vulcanization to thermoset materials derived from natural rubber. Parkesine is considered the first man-made plastic, the plastic material was patented by Alexander Parkes, In Birmingham, UK in 1856. It was unveiled at the 1862 Great International Exhibition in London, parkesine won a bronze medal at the 1862 Worlds fair in London
6.
Fluorite
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Fluorite is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It belongs to the halide minerals and it crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon. Mohs scale of hardness, based on scratch Hardness comparison. Fluorite is a mineral, both in visible and ultraviolet light, and the stone has ornamental and lapidary uses. Industrially, fluorite is used as a flux for smelting, and in the production of certain glasses, the purest grades of fluorite are a source of fluoride for hydrofluoric acid manufacture, which is the intermediate source of most fluorine-containing fine chemicals. Optically clear transparent fluorite lenses have low dispersion, so made from it exhibit less chromatic aberration. Fluorite optics are also usable in the range, where conventional glasses are too absorbent for use. The word fluorite is derived from the Latin verb fluere, meaning to flow, the mineral is used as a flux in iron smelting to decrease the viscosity of slags. The term flux comes from the Latin adjective fluxus, meaning flowing, loose, agricola, a German scientist with expertise in philology, mining, and metallurgy, named fluorspar as a neo-Latinization of the German Flussspat from Fluß and Spat. In 1852, fluorite gave its name to the phenomenon of fluorescence, Fluorite also gave the name to its constitutive element fluorine. Presently, the fluorspar is most commonly used for fluorite as the industrial and chemical commodity, while fluorite is used mineralogically. Fluorite crystallises in a cubic motif, crystal twinning is common and adds complexity to the observed crystal habits. Fluorite has four perfect cleavage planes that help produce octahedral fragments, element substitution for the calcium cation often includes certain rare earth elements, such as yttrium and cerium. Iron, sodium, and barium are also common impurities, some fluorine may be replaced by the chloride anion. Fluorite is a widely occurring mineral that occurs globally with significant deposits in over 9,000 areas. It may occur as a deposit, especially with metallic minerals, where it often forms a part of the gangue and may be associated with galena, sphalerite, barite, quartz. It is a mineral in deposits of hydrothermal origin and has been noted as a primary mineral in granites and other igneous rocks. The world reserves of fluorite are estimated at 230 million tonnes with the largest deposits being in South Africa, Mexico, China is leading the world production with about 3 Mt annually, followed by Mexico, Mongolia, Russia, South Africa, Spain and Namibia
7.
Carl Wilhelm Scheele
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Carl Wilhelm Scheele was a Swedish Pomeranian and pharmaceutical chemist. Isaac Asimov called him hard-luck Scheele because he made a number of discoveries before others who are generally given the credit. For example, Scheele discovered oxygen, and identified molybdenum, tungsten, barium, hydrogen, Scheele discovered organic acids tartaric, oxalic, uric, lactic, and citric, as well as hydrofluoric, hydrocyanic, and arsenic acids. He preferred speaking German to Swedish his whole life, as German was commonly spoken among Swedish pharmacists, Scheele was born in Stralsund, in western Pomerania, which at the time was a Swedish Dominion inside the Holy Roman Empire. Scheeles father Joachim Christian Scheele, was a dealer and brewer from a respected German family. His mother was Margaretha Eleanore Warnekros, friends of Scheeles parents taught him the art of reading prescriptions and the meaning of chemical and pharmaceutical signs. Then, in 1757, at age fourteen Carl was sent to Gothenburg as an apprentice pharmacist with another family friend, Scheele retained this position for eight years. During this time he ran experiments late into the night and read the works of Nicolas Lemery, Caspar Neumann, Johann von Löwenstern-Kunckel, much of Scheeles later theoretical speculations were based upon Stahl. Scheele arrived in Stockholm between 1767 and 1769 and worked as a pharmacist, during this period he discovered tartaric acid and with his friend, Retzius, studied the relation of quicklime to calcium carbonate. While in the capital, he became acquainted with many luminaries, such as, Abraham Bäck, Peter Jonas Bergius, Bengt Bergius. In the fall of 1770 Scheele became director of the laboratory of the pharmacy of Locke. The laboratory supplied chemicals to Professor of Chemistry Torbern Bergman, a friendship developed between Scheele and Bergman after Scheele analyzed a reaction which Bergman and his assistant Johan Gottlieb Gahn could not resolve. The reaction was between melted saltpetre and acetic acid produced a red vapor. Further study of this later led to Scheeles discovery of oxygen. Based upon this friendship and respect Scheele was given use of Bergmans laboratory. Both men were profiting from their working relationship, in 1774 Scheele was nominated by Peter Jonas Bergius to be a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and was elected February 4,1775. In 1775 Scheele also managed for a time a pharmacy in Köping. Between the end of 1776 and the beginning of 1777 Scheele established his own business there, after his return to Köping he devoted himself, outside of his business, to scientific researches which resulted in a long series of important papers
8.
Jmol
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Jmol is computer software for molecular modelling chemical structures in 3-dimensions. Jmol returns a 3D representation of a molecule that may be used as a teaching tool and it is written in the programming language Java, so it can run on the operating systems Windows, macOS, Linux, and Unix, if Java is installed. It is free and open-source software released under a GNU Lesser General Public License version 2.0, a standalone application and a software development kit exist that can be integrated into other Java applications, such as Bioclipse and Taverna. A popular feature is an applet that can be integrated into web pages to display molecules in a variety of ways, for example, molecules can be displayed as ball-and-stick models, space-filling models, ribbon diagrams, etc. Jmol supports a range of chemical file formats, including Protein Data Bank, Crystallographic Information File, MDL Molfile. There is also a JavaScript-only version, JSmol, that can be used on computers with no Java, the Jmol applet, among other abilities, offers an alternative to the Chime plug-in, which is no longer under active development. While Jmol has many features that Chime lacks, it does not claim to reproduce all Chime functions, most notably, Chime requires plug-in installation and Internet Explorer 6.0 or Firefox 2.0 on Microsoft Windows, or Netscape Communicator 4.8 on Mac OS9. Jmol requires Java installation and operates on a variety of platforms. For example, Jmol is fully functional in Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Google Chrome, fast and Scriptable Molecular Graphics in Web Browsers without Java3D
9.
Hydrogen bond
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Hydrogen bonds can occur between molecules or within different parts of a single molecule. Depending on geometry and environment, the hydrogen bond free energy content is between 1 and 5 kcal/mol and this makes it stronger than a van der Waals interaction, but weaker than covalent or ionic bonds. This type of bond can occur in molecules such as water and in organic molecules like DNA. Intermolecular hydrogen bonding is responsible for the boiling point of water compared to the other group 16 hydrides that have much weaker hydrogen bonds. Intramolecular hydrogen bonding is responsible for the secondary and tertiary structures of proteins. It also plays an important role in the structure of polymers, in 2011, an IUPAC Task Group recommended a modern evidence-based definition of hydrogen bonding, which was published in the IUPAC journal Pure and Applied Chemistry. An accompanying detailed technical report provides the rationale behind the new definition, a hydrogen atom attached to a relatively electronegative atom will play the role of the hydrogen bond donor. This electronegative atom is usually fluorine, oxygen, or nitrogen, a hydrogen attached to carbon can also participate in hydrogen bonding when the carbon atom is bound to electronegative atoms, as is the case in chloroform, CHCl3. An example of a hydrogen donor is the hydrogen from the hydroxyl group of ethanol. In a hydrogen bond, the electronegative atom not covalently attached to the hydrogen is named proton acceptor, because of the small size of hydrogen relative to other atoms and molecules, the resulting charge, though only partial, represents a large charge density. A hydrogen bond results when this positive charge density attracts a lone pair of electrons on another heteroatom. The hydrogen bond is described as an electrostatic dipole-dipole interaction. These covalent features are more substantial when acceptors bind hydrogens from more electronegative donors, the partially covalent nature of a hydrogen bond raises the following questions, To which molecule or atom does the hydrogen nucleus belong. And Which should be labeled donor and which acceptor, liquids that display hydrogen bonding are called associated liquids. Hydrogen bonds can vary in strength from weak to extremely strong. For example, the central interresidue N−H···N hydrogen bond between guanine and cytosine is much stronger in comparison to the N−H···N bond between the adenine-thymine pair, the length of hydrogen bonds depends on bond strength, temperature, and pressure. The bond strength itself is dependent on temperature, pressure, bond angle, the typical length of a hydrogen bond in water is 197 pm. The ideal bond angle depends on the nature of the hydrogen bond donor, moore and Winmill used the hydrogen bond to account for the fact that trimethylammonium hydroxide is a weaker base than tetramethylammonium hydroxide
10.
Boiling point
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The boiling point of a substance is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of the liquid equals the pressure surrounding the liquid and the liquid changes into a vapor. The boiling point of a liquid varies depending upon the environmental pressure. A liquid in a vacuum has a lower boiling point than when that liquid is at atmospheric pressure. A liquid at high pressure has a boiling point than when that liquid is at atmospheric pressure. For a given pressure, different liquids boil at different temperatures, for example, water boils at 100 °C at sea level, but at 93.4 °C at 2,000 metres altitude. The normal boiling point of a liquid is the case in which the vapor pressure of the liquid equals the defined atmospheric pressure at sea level,1 atmosphere. At that temperature, the pressure of the liquid becomes sufficient to overcome atmospheric pressure. The standard boiling point has been defined by IUPAC since 1982 as the temperature at which boiling occurs under a pressure of 1 bar, the heat of vaporization is the energy required to transform a given quantity of a substance from a liquid into a gas at a given pressure. Liquids may change to a vapor at temperatures below their boiling points through the process of evaporation, evaporation is a surface phenomenon in which molecules located near the liquids edge, not contained by enough liquid pressure on that side, escape into the surroundings as vapor. On the other hand, boiling is a process in which molecules anywhere in the liquid escape, a saturated liquid contains as much thermal energy as it can without boiling. The saturation temperature is the temperature for a corresponding saturation pressure at which a liquid boils into its vapor phase, the liquid can be said to be saturated with thermal energy. Any addition of energy results in a phase transition. If the pressure in a system remains constant, a vapor at saturation temperature will begin to condense into its liquid phase as thermal energy is removed, similarly, a liquid at saturation temperature and pressure will boil into its vapor phase as additional thermal energy is applied. The boiling point corresponds to the temperature at which the pressure of the liquid equals the surrounding environmental pressure. Thus, the point is dependent on the pressure. Boiling points may be published with respect to the NIST, USA standard pressure of 101.325 kPa, at higher elevations, where the atmospheric pressure is much lower, the boiling point is also lower. The boiling point increases with increased pressure up to the critical point, the boiling point cannot be increased beyond the critical point. Likewise, the point decreases with decreasing pressure until the triple point is reached
11.
Hydrochloric acid
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Hydrochloric acid is a corrosive, strong mineral acid with many industrial uses. A colorless, highly pungent solution of chloride in water. Free hydrochloric acid was first formally described in the 16th century by Libavius, later, it was used by chemists such as Glauber, Priestley, and Davy in their scientific research. It has numerous applications, including household cleaning, production of gelatin and other food additives, descaling. About 20 million tonnes of acid are produced worldwide annually. It is also found naturally in gastric acid, Hydrochloric acid was known to European alchemists as spirits of salt or acidum salis. Both names are used, especially in other languages, such as German, Salzsäure, Dutch, Zoutzuur, Swedish, Saltsyra, Turkish, Tuz Ruhu, Polish, kwas solny and Chinese. Gaseous HCl was called marine acid air, the old name muriatic acid has the same origin, and this name is still sometimes used. The name hydrochloric acid was coined by the French chemist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac in 1814, aqua regia, a mixture consisting of hydrochloric and nitric acids, prepared by dissolving sal ammoniac in nitric acid, was described in the works of Pseudo-Geber, a 13th-century European alchemist. Other references suggest that the first mention of aqua regia is in Byzantine manuscripts dating to the end of the 13th century, free hydrochloric acid was first formally described in the 16th century by Libavius, who prepared it by heating salt in clay crucibles. Joseph Priestley of Leeds, England prepared pure hydrogen chloride in 1772, during the Industrial Revolution in Europe, demand for alkaline substances increased. A new industrial process developed by Nicolas Leblanc of Issoundun, France enabled cheap large-scale production of sodium carbonate, in this Leblanc process, common salt is converted to soda ash, using sulfuric acid, limestone, and coal, releasing hydrogen chloride as a by-product. Until the British Alkali Act 1863 and similar legislation in other countries, after the passage of the act, soda ash producers were obliged to absorb the waste gas in water, producing hydrochloric acid on an industrial scale. In the 20th century, the Leblanc process was replaced by the Solvay process without a hydrochloric acid by-product. Since hydrochloric acid was already settled as an important chemical in numerous applications. After the year 2000, hydrochloric acid is made by absorbing by-product hydrogen chloride from industrial organic compounds production. Hydrochloric acid is the salt of hydronium ion, H3O+ and chloride and it is usually prepared by treating HCl with water. H C l + H2 O ⟶ H3 O + + C l − Hydrochloric acid can therefore be used to prepare salts called chlorides, Hydrochloric acid is a strong acid, since it is completely dissociated in water
12.
Oxide
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An oxide /ˈɒksaɪd/ is a chemical compound that contains at least one oxygen atom and one other element in its chemical formula. Oxide itself is the dianion of oxygen, an O2– atom, Metal oxides thus typically contain an anion of oxygen in the oxidation state of −2. Most of the Earths crust consists of oxides, the result of elements being oxidized by the oxygen in air or in water. Hydrocarbon combustion affords the two principal carbon oxides, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, even materials considered pure elements often develop an oxide coating. For example, aluminium foil develops a skin of Al2O3 that protects the foil from further corrosion. Individual elements can form multiple oxides, each containing different amounts of the element. Certain elements can form many different oxides, such those of nitrogen, due to its electronegativity, oxygen forms stable chemical bonds with almost all elements to give the corresponding oxides. Noble metals are prized because they resist direct chemical combination with oxygen, two independent pathways for corrosion of elements are hydrolysis and oxidation by oxygen. The combination of water and oxygen is even more corrosive, virtually all elements burn in an atmosphere of oxygen, or an oxygen rich environment. In the presence of water and oxygen, some elements— sodium—react rapidly, even dangerously, in part for this reason, alkali and alkaline earth metals are not found in nature in their metallic, i. e. native, form. Caesium is so reactive with oxygen that it is used as a getter in vacuum tubes, the surface of most metals consists of oxides and hydroxides in the presence of air. A well-known example is aluminium foil, which is coated with a film of aluminium oxide that passivates the metal. The aluminium oxide layer can be built to greater thickness by the process of electrolytic anodising, though solid magnesium and aluminium react slowly with oxygen at STP—they, like most metals, burn in air, generating very high temperatures. Finely grained powders of most metals can be explosive in air. Consequently, they are used in Solid-fuel rockets. In dry oxygen, iron forms iron oxide, but the formation of the hydrated ferric oxides, Fe2O3−x2x. Free oxygen production by photosynthetic bacteria some 3.5 billion years ago precipitated iron out of solution in the oceans as Fe2O3 in the important iron ore hematite. Oxides have a range of different structures, from molecules to polymeric
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