Here's hoping for some help from the chemist-types on the list. I've
always assumed that pure oxygen is extremely flammable. If this is
true, what is the chemical reaction for the combustion process? If
it's a pure oxygen environment, the left side of the equation will be
just oxygen (Mostly diatomic oxygen, or O2). Since it's a
non-nuclear reaction, the right side must be solely oxygen as well.
Is all the energy released simply from O2 molecules breaking up into
monatomic oxygen atoms? If that's the case, am I to assume that
monatomic oxygen isn't flammable? Could we breathe it?
Sorry if this seems stupid. This isn't another one of my brain
teasers. I just got to thinking about it, and can't come up with a
good answer.
Scott
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