Liquid oxygen

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Liquid oxygen (Template:Chem2) (cyan liquid) in a beaker.
When liquid oxygen (Template:Chem2) is poured from a beaker into a strong magnet, the oxygen is temporarily suspended between the magnet poles, owing to its paramagnetism.

Liquid oxygen, sometimes abbreviated as LOX or LOXygen, is a clear, pale cyan liquid form of dioxygen Template:Chem2. It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> an application which is ongoing.

Physical properties

Liquid oxygen has a clear, pale cyan color and is strongly paramagnetic: it can be suspended between the poles of a powerful horseshoe magnet.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Liquid oxygen has a density of Template:Convert, slightly denser than liquid water, and is cryogenic with a freezing point of Template:Convert and a boiling point of Template:Convert at Template:Convert. Liquid oxygen has an expansion ratio of 1:861<ref>Cryogenic Safety. chemistry.ohio-state.edu.</ref><ref>Characteristics. Template:Webarchive. Lindecanada.com. Retrieved on 2012-07-22.</ref> and because of this, it is used in some commercial and military aircraft as a transportable source of breathing oxygen.Template:Citation needed

Liquid oxygen is also a very powerful oxidizing agent: organic materials will burn rapidly and energetically in liquid oxygen. Further, if soaked in liquid oxygen, some materials such as coal briquettes, carbon black, etc., can detonate unpredictably from sources of ignition such as flames, sparks or impact from light blows. Petrochemicals, including asphalt, often exhibit this behavior.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The tetraoxygen molecule (O4) was predicted in 1924 by Gilbert N. Lewis, who proposed it to explain why liquid oxygen defied Curie's law.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Modern computer simulations indicate that, although there are no stable O4 molecules in liquid oxygen, O2 molecules do tend to associate in pairs with antiparallel spins, forming transient O4 units.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Liquid nitrogen has a lower boiling point at −196 °C (77 K) than oxygen's −183 °C (90 K), and vessels containing liquid nitrogen can condense oxygen from air: when most of the nitrogen has evaporated from such a vessel, there is a risk that liquid oxygen remaining can react violently with organic material. Conversely, liquid nitrogen or liquid air can be oxygen-enriched by letting it stand in open air; atmospheric oxygen dissolves in it, while nitrogen evaporates preferentially.Template:Citation needed

The surface tension of liquid oxygen at its normal pressure boiling point is Template:Convert.<ref>J. M. Jurns and J. W. Hartwig (2011). Liquid Oxygen Liquid Acquisition Device Bubble Point Tests With High Pressure LOX at Elevated Temperatures, p. 4.</ref>

Uses

A U.S. Air Force technician transfers liquid oxygen to a Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules aircraft at the Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.
Liquid Oxygen tank at National Hospital (Teaching), Kandy

In commerce, liquid oxygen is classified as an industrial gas and is widely used for industrial and medical purposes. Liquid oxygen is obtained from the oxygen found naturally in air by fractional distillation in a cryogenic air separation plant.Template:Citation needed

Insulated evaporator and storage container setup for liquid oxygen

Air forces have long recognized the strategic importance of liquid oxygen, both as an oxidizer and as a supply of gaseous oxygen for breathing in hospitals and high-altitude aircraft flights. In 1985, the USAF started a program of building its own oxygen-generation facilities at all major consumption bases.<ref>Arnold, Mark. 1U.S. Army Oxygen Generation System Development. RTO-MP-HFM-182. dtic.mil</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In rocket propellant

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SpaceX's liquid oxygen ball at Cape Canaveral

Liquid oxygen is the most common cryogenic liquid oxidizer propellant for spacecraft propulsion applications, usually in combination with liquid hydrogen, kerosene or methane.<ref name="nsf20140307">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="fg20121120">Template:Cite news</ref>

Liquid oxygen was used in the first liquid fueled rocket. The World War II V-2 missile also used liquid oxygen under the name A-Stoff and Sauerstoff. In the 1950s, during the Cold War both the United States' Redstone and Atlas rockets, and the Soviet R-7 Semyorka used liquid oxygen. Later, in the 1960s and 1970s, the ascent stages of the Apollo Saturn rockets, and the Space Shuttle main engines used liquid oxygen.Template:Citation needed

As of 2025, many active rockets use liquid oxygen:

History

See also

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References

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Further reading

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