Carbon monoxide

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Carbon monoxide, with the chemical formula CO, is a colorless, odorless and tasteless, yet highly toxic gas. Its molecules consist of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom, connected by a covalent double bond and a dative covalent bond. It is the simplest oxocarbon, and can be viewed as the anhydride of formic acid (CH2O2).

Carbon monoxide is produced from the partial oxidation of carbon-containing compounds; it forms in preference to the more usual carbon dioxide (CO2) when there is a reduced availability of oxygen, such as when operating a stove or an internal combustion engine in an enclosed space. Carbon monoxide has significant fuel value, burning in air with a characteristic blue flame, producing carbon dioxide. Despite its serious toxicity, it was once widely used (as the main component of coal gas) for domestic lighting, cooking and heating, and in the production of nickel. Carbon monoxide still plays a major role in modern technology, in industrial processes such as iron smelting and as a precursor to myriad products.

For more information about Carbon monoxide, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with carbon monoxide

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New way to break some of the strongest chemical bonds

New way to break some of the strongest chemical bonds

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (24) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at Cornell University in the U.S. have found a new way of breaking two of the strongest chemical bonds, at ambient temperature and pressure, and this breakthrough could lead to ...


Studying a Star Before it is Born

Studying a Star Before it is Born

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 04, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- The first phase of a star's formation are thought to begin deep inside a natal cloud of gas and dust. In the earliest stages, material coalesces under the influence of gravity into so-called ...


New laser -- it's a gas, gas, gas... sensor

New laser -- it's a gas, gas, gas... sensor

Technology / Engineering

created Dec 04, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new generation of optical sensors is enabling the development of robust, long-lasting, lighting-fast trace gas detectors for use in a wide range of industrial, security and domestic applications.


Waterpipe tobacco smokers inhale same toxicants as cigarette smokers

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

Smoking tobacco through a waterpipe exposes the user to the same toxicants - carbon monoxide and nicotine - as puffing on a cigarette, which could lead to nicotine addiction and heart disease, according to a study led by ...


Sandia CR5

Machine Converts CO2 into Gasoline, Diesel, and Jet Fuel

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (45) | comments 25

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have built a machine that uses the sun's energy to convert carbon dioxide waste from power plants into transportation fuels such as gasoline, diesel, ...


The 'e-Nose': Scientists try to develop an electronic sniffer

The 'e-Nose': Scientists try to develop an electronic sniffer

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 1

Sniff, sniff, sniff -- Yum! Sniff, sniff, sniff -- Oh, yuck!!! For almost 25 years, chemists and other scientists have tried to build a machine that can do exactly that.


Interactions with Aerosols Boost Warming Potential of Some Gases

Interactions with Aerosols Boost Warming Potential of Some Gases

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity 3.2 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- For decades, climate scientists have worked to identify and measure key substances -- notably greenhouse gases and aerosol particles -- that affect Earth’s climate. And they’ve been aided ...


For safer emergencies, give your power generator some space (w/ Video)

Technology / Engineering

created Oct 06, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

To subdue the steaming heat of hurricanes or to thaw out during a blizzard, gasoline-powered, portable generators are a lifeline during weather emergencies when homes are cut off without electricity. But these generators ...


Research gives new meaning to 'green' cross code

Space & Earth / Environment

created Oct 05, 2009 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Pedestrians could reduce the amount of traffic pollution they breathe in simply by crossing the street, according to the latest research from the University of Leeds.


Pollution from California Wildfires Spreads Across the United States (w/ Video)

Pollution from California Wildfires Spreads Across the United States (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Sep 04, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 3

Beginning August 26, 2009, and continuing into September 2009, a large wildfire in the Angeles National Forest north of Los Angeles known as the Station Fire burned more than 140,000 acres through September ...


Laser pulses control single electrons in complex molecules

Physics / General Physics

created Sep 01, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 1

Predatory fish are well aware of the problem: In a swarm of small fish it is hard to isolate prey. A similar situation can be found in the microcosm of atoms and molecules, whose behavior is influenced by "swarms" of electrons. ...


Carbon monoxide linked to heart problems in elderly

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Aug 31, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Exposure to carbon monoxide, even at levels well below national limits, is associated with an increased risk of hospitalization for the elderly with heart problems, according to a study published today in Circulation: Jo ...


Tiny levels of carbon monoxide damage fetal brain

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Jun 25, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 5

A UCLA study has discovered that chronic exposure during pregnancy to miniscule levels of carbon monoxide damages the cells of the fetal brain, resulting in permanent impairment. The journal BMC (BioMed Central) Neuroscience publis ...


Carbon monoxide reverses diabetic gastric problem in mice

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jun 01, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Mayo Clinic researchers have shown that very low doses of inhaled carbon monoxide in diabetic mice reverses the condition known as gastroparesis or delayed stomach emptying, a common and painful complication for many diabetic ...


Pediatric carbon monoxide poisoning linked to video games after Hurricane Ike

Medicine & Health / Health

created May 26, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Hours after Hurricane Ike roared ashore in Texas, more than two million homes were without power, which left some scrambling to preserve food and others looking for ways to entertain children, a move that proved to be, in ...