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Oxygen Element: Structure and Properties
The Oxygen element is an essential part of life on Earth and also serves as an excellent example in the process of metal corrosion which will aid our understanding of the operation of batteries. Diatomic Oxygen gas (O2) makes up just under 21% of the atmosphere. All oxygen atoms contain 8 protons in their nucleus and have 8 electrons in their neutral state. Isotopes of Oxygen 
The most common isotope of Oxygen is 16-Oxygen that contains 8 protons and 8 neutrons in the atom's nucleus. This isotope makes up 99.8% of all oxygen atoms found on earth. A simplified picture of this isotope is shown to the right. Other stable and naturally occurring isotopes are 17- and 18-Oxygen with 9 and 10 neutrons respectively.Other isotopes have been synthesized for the oxygen element, ranging from 4 to 20 neutrons. However they are all radioactive and the most stable of these other forms, 15-Oxygen, has a half life of just 2 minutes meaning that these versions of Oxygen are never encountered in the ordinary world. The Electron Structure of Oxygen We can see a more detailed image of the electron structure of the Oxygen element below. Subshells are indicated by the black horizontal lines. The numbers in brackets show the maximum number of electrons that can be placed in that subshell is the number given in brackets.
The Behaviour of Oxygen The element Oxygen can either capture two electrons or share two electrons. We will cover the sharing first. Sharing Two Electrons In order to share electrons, an Oxygen atom needs to team up with another atom. To keep explanations simple, we will use only three different types of atoms to give examples of this sharing. We will use Hydrogen, Carbon and our Oxygen atom as described so far. The electron dot diagrams for these atoms are shown:
All we need to do now is match them up so that the single electrons make pairs. Remember that while Carbon and Oxygen both need 8 outer shell electrons, Hydrogen only needs two. The following diagrams show the construction of various covalent compounds. The final stage of each shows the molecule with the electron pairs replaced with sticks. This is the process for obtaining the structure of water, H2O:
Atoms can share between one and three electrons with another atom. Since Oxygen has two to share, it can form a double bond with another oxygen atom:
Finally we will do the same to produce Carbon Dioxide, CO2:
The possible combinations are endless. Capturing Two Electrons The other way Oxygen can obtain a full outer shell is by capturing two electrons from the environment around it. Since electrons are generally not found wandering freely, these electrons must be taken from other elements. This occurs when an oxygen atom, or a molecule of oxygen gas, encounters a Return from Oxygen Element to The Chemistry or return to the Green Planet home page for more Solar Power Facts.
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Oxygen atoms have 8 protons and therefore 8 electrons in their neutral state. If we follow the 
