this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] callyral@pawb.social 21 points 1 month ago (1 children)

i'm not a chemist but is this licking the most common molecule form or the atomic variety

O₂ is safe but i don't think O is

[–] Tyfud@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I think it's framed in the context of: "How dangerous would a single molecule be to a human?". In that context, I would say O is safe, only because our body naturally destroys the radical oxygen molecules every day that we create with our anti-oxidants.

True, in a larger quantity than our body can handle, it's extremely toxic; but a single molecule would probably not be too bad.

But I do agree, it shouldn't be Green. It should be Yellow at least.

[–] Eheran@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

O would completely destroy you in lickable quantities. I think you underestimate how extremely reactive it is. Just remember that it is so reactive that it reacts with oxygen to form ozone. This is not a little byproduct in extremely small quantities all throughout the body, which is also not the O radical anyway.