Carbon Dioxide Definition

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) was the first gas to be identified as distinct from regular air. When Jan Baptist van Helmont, a Flemish scientist, burnt charcoal in a confined vessel around 1630, he discovered a vapour different from the air. The vapour was dubbed “wood gas” by him and them (spiritus sylvestris).

He assumed it was a single material or an ingredient. When a Scottish physician, Joseph Black, was heating calcium carbonate in 1756, he detected this gas (CaCO3). It was dubbed “fixed air” by him.

It was also recognised by exhaled breath, which he characterised as heavier than the air and slightly acidic. This material, according to English chemist John Dalton, is made up of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms. It is now known as “carbon dioxide.”

A carbon atom and two oxygen atoms make up carbon dioxide, a chemical molecule. A double covalent connection connects each of the oxygen atoms to the centre carbon atom. The length of the C-O bond is 116.3 pm. The chemical has a linear and centrosymmetric structure. CO₂ is its chemical formula. Carbon dioxide is an incombustible gas that is colourless and odourless.

Carbon dioxide may be found in a variety of forms, including gas, liquid, and solid. Dry ice is carbon dioxide that has been frozen. At normal atmospheric pressure, it reaches a temperature of -78.5°C.

An inorganic chemical is one that does not include carbon atoms and is not generated by a living organism (Vitalism). Carbon dioxide, however, is an exception to this basic norm. Carbon dioxide is a gas that contains a carbon atom and may be generated by living organisms through respiration. It, on the other hand, lacks the C-C and C-H covalent bonds seen in organic molecules.

This molecule is nonpolar due to the linearity and centrosymmetry of carbon dioxide. The distribution of valence electrons is not uneven. As they draw the electron density from the carbon at 180 degrees, the two oxygen atoms have equal force or electronegativity.

As a result, no net electron moving happens in any direction, and no net charge builds up on any of the atoms. Carbon dioxide, on the other hand, is only soluble in water while pressure is maintained. It produces carbonic acid, a weak acid, when it interacts with water.

The following is the chemical reaction:

CO₂ + H₂O ⇌ H₂CO₃

Carbon dioxide may thus be found in oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, groundwater, glaciers, and ice caps in addition to the atmosphere. When the pressure goes below 5.1 atm, the liquid carbon dioxide reverts to a gaseous state.

The molar mass of carbon dioxide is 44.01 gmol-1. It has a melting point of -56.6 degrees Celsius. It has a density of 1.98 kg/m3 at normal temperatures and pressure. At 21 °C, it has a specific gravity of 1.53. It’s a noncombustible gas.