Hey guys,
Just curious as to what the syllabus is actually asking for this dot point, 'Compare the properties of the gaseous forms of oxygen and the oxygen free radical.
Like what would I write if this were to come as a short answer question in my exam?
Cheers guys.
In terms of reactivity, everyone knows that oxygen is moderately reactive as whilst it doesn't react aggressively by itself, it can be made aggressive through means of burning/combustion and etc.
However, ozone is appreciably more reactive due to the instability of the coordinate bond. It is essentially a site of higher reactivity.
The oxygen free radical is the most reactive due to the fact that it's a single atom. It doesn't even have a full outer shell and wants to fill it up.
Then in terms of melting/boiling points, oxygen is a linear molecule and its melting/boiling points are extremely low
However, the melting/boiling points of ozone are slightly more elevated due to the fact that it is bent. The central oxygen has a lone, unbonded pair of electrons which is a site for dipole-dipole interactions.