If oxygen in the air is O2 (since an oxygen atom has 6 electrons in the outer shell, it makes 2 double covalent bonds with another oxygen so that they’re both stable), why do oxygen molecules react with metals to form an oxide layer if O2 is stable? Its stable, so why react with anything?
In: Chemistry
Stability is relative. Nature tends towards the lowest energy state, O2 has a lower energy than lone oxygen atoms floating around. So if you have gaseous oxygen it is stable as O2. However it isn’t in its lowest energy state, if there is some copper in the system then the oxygen can react with it and release energy. The copper oxide had a lower energy than the lone copper and oxygen and so is a more stable state.
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