Question

Which of the following is incorrect regarding oxygen?

• A. Solid oxygen is blue.
• B. Oxygen gas is odorless.
• C. Oxygen is non-toxic.
• D. Liquid and solid oxygen are paramagnetic.

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

Oxygen is non-toxic.

Solid oxygen is a clear substance with a light sky-blue colour. Oxygen gas is a colourless gas without taste or odour. Oxygen toxicity is a condition that results from the harmful effects of breathing molecular oxygen $\left(O_2\right)$ at elevated partial pressures. This causes hyperoxia, an excess of oxygen in body tissues.

Something that is paramagnetic means that it is weakly attracted to the poles of a magnetic field but it itself does not retain any magnetic properties once it is beyond that magnetic field. Oxygen, no matter what its state, is paramagnetic.In solid and liquid oxygen, the magnetic effect is measurable but in a gas, the molecules of oxygen possess ample energy of motion to overcome the weak magnetic influence.