Cyclic ozone is a theoretically predicted form of

ozone Ozone (), or trioxygen, is an inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , breaking down in the lo ...

. Like ordinary ozone (O₃), it would have three

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

atoms. It would differ from ordinary ozone in how those three oxygen atoms are arranged. In ordinary ozone, the atoms are arranged in a bent line; in cyclic ozone, they would form an

equilateral triangle In geometry, an equilateral triangle is a triangle in which all three sides have the same length. In the familiar Euclidean geometry, an equilateral triangle is also equiangular; that is, all three internal angles are also congruent to each othe ...

. Some of the properties of cyclic ozone have been predicted theoretically. It should have more energy than ordinary ozone. There is evidence that tiny quantities of cyclic ozone exist at the surface of magnesium oxide crystals in air. Cyclic ozone has not been made in bulk, although at least one researcher has attempted to do so using lasers. Another possibility to stabilize this form of oxygen is to produce it inside confined spaces, e.g., fullerene. It has been speculated that, if cyclic ozone could be made in bulk, and if it proved to have good

stability Stability may refer to: Mathematics *Stability theory, the study of the stability of solutions to differential equations and dynamical systems ** Asymptotic stability ** Linear stability ** Lyapunov stability ** Orbital stability ** Structural sta ...

properties, it could be added to liquid oxygen to improve the

specific impulse Specific impulse (usually abbreviated ) is a measure of how efficiently a reaction mass engine (a rocket using propellant or a jet engine using fuel) creates thrust. For engines whose reaction mass is only the fuel they carry, specific impulse i ...

of rocket fuel. Currently, the possibility of cyclic ozone is confirmed within diverse theoretical approaches.

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* {{oxygenallotropes Allotropes of oxygen Hypothetical chemical compounds Cyclic compounds Three-membered rings Homonuclear triatomic molecules