Ozone – The Other Oxygen: A Brief Discussion

Chemistry, Physics
Ozone (O3), a triatomic form of the ordinarily diatomic oxygen (O2), is a curious species. We will discuss some of ozone's curious physical properties. We will not include information related to health or the environment. Molecular Bonding Just as it takes two points to determine a straight line, diatomic oxygen is also linear. It's bond length is 1.208 Å (equal to 120.8 pm). Ozone is not linear; it is bent at an angle of 116.8o, which is greater than the measure of the angle for a water molecule, 104.5o. Comparing Boiling Points The third oxygen atom plus the relatively large angle suggests ozone should boil at a higher temperature than oxygen. In fact, this is the case. This is because the bent ozone molecules, as seen in the illustration, produces…
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