the.com/oxidation
the slow fire eating your car, your apple, and eventually you alive
means A chemical reaction in which a substance loses electrons, often by combining with oxygen, producing things like rust, tarnish, and the browning of a cut apple.
from Built from "oxygen" plus the action-suffix "-ation." The story starts with oxygen itself, named in the late 18th century by the French chemist Lavoisier from Greek roots meaning roughly "acid-maker" (oxys, "sharp" or "acid," plus a generator suffix) — because he mistakenly believed oxygen was the essential ingredient in all acids. He was wrong about the acids, but the name stuck, and "oxidation" rode out from it to describe any reaction in that family. Chemists later realized the process is really about losing electrons, so "oxidation" now covers plenty of reactions where no oxygen appears at all — a word that outgrew its own etymology.
- defined
- Losing electrons, not necessarily involving oxygen at all
- rust cost
- Corrosion drains over 2.5 trillion dollars globally yearly
- why you breathe
- Cells oxidize glucose to power every move you make
- apple browning
- Sliced fruit oxidizes within minutes of meeting air
- aging theory
- Oxidative damage may quietly clock your biological lifespan
rusting of iron — iron combines with oxygen to form iron oxide, the most common oxidation process on earth
browning of apples — cut apple flesh oxidizes when exposed to air within minutes due to polyphenol oxidase enzyme
combustion in car engines — gasoline oxidizes with oxygen at 2,500°c in internal combustion engines to produce energy