Liquid oxygen

Liquid oxygen (also LOx, LOX or Lox in the aerospace industry) is the liquid form of oxygen. It has a pale blue colour and is strongly paramagnetic. Liquid oxygen has a density of 1140 kg/m³ and is moderately cryogenic (freezing point: −219 °C, boiling point: −183 °C). Oxygen is found naturally in the air. For industrial applications it is obtained from air by fractional distillation.

Related Topics:
Aerospace - Oxygen - Paramagnetic - Cryogenic - Fractional distillation

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Liquid oxygen is a powerful oxidising agent: organic materials will burn rapidly and energetically in liquid oxygen, hence LOx is a common liquid oxidizer propellant for spacecraft rocket applications usually in combination with liquid hydrogen or kerosene. It was used in the very first rocket applications like the V2 missile and Redstone, R-7 or Atlas boosters. LOX is useful in this role because it creates a high specific impulse. LOx was also used in some early ICBMs although more modern ICBMs do not use LOX because its cryogenic properties and need for regular replenishment to replace boiloff make it harder to maintain and launch quickly.

Related Topics:
Oxidizer - Spacecraft rocket - Liquid hydrogen - Kerosene - V2 - Redstone - R-7 - Atlas - Specific impulse - ICBM

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LOX also had extensive use in making oxyliquit explosives.

Related Topics:
Oxyliquit - Explosive

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Liquid nitrogen has a significantly lower boiling point (77 K) than oxygen (90 K), and vessels containing liquid nitrogen can condense oxygen from air: when most of the nitrogen has evaporated from such a vessel there is a risk that liquid oxygen remaining can react violently with organic material. Conversely, liquid air can be oxygen-enriched by letting it stand in open air; atmospheric oxygen dissolves in it, while nitrogen evaporates preferentially.

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