What is an Oxygen Molecule?
Oxygen is a non-metal.
An oxygen atom has 6
electrons in its
outer
shell.
Oxygen is in group 6 of the periodic table.
Two oxygen atoms will each
share two
electrons to form
two
covalent bonds
and make an oxygen molecule
(O2).
This is a picture of an oxygen molecule.
By sharing the four
electrons where the shells touch
each oxygen atom can count 8 electrons in its outer shell.
These full outer
shells with their shared electrons
are now stable,
and the O2 molecule will
not (normally)
react further with other oxygen
atoms.
Note the 2
pairs (4 electrons)
shared between the atoms.
Each electron
pair is one
bond.
Oxygen has two bonds
between its atoms.
This is called a double bond.
The structural formula of an oxygen molecule is written
There are no ions present (no + or - charges) in oxygen
gas
because
the electrons are shared,
not
transferred from one atom to
another.
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