what does it take to get breathable oxygen from a moon rock?
2007-07-27 13:19:10 · 3 answers · asked by trogwolf 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
I've never heard of oxygen being "separated" from plagioclase.
Plagioclase is a silicate and contains oxygen (Si2O8 or Si3O8 depending on the mineral species in the solid solution series), but oxygen is not separated from plagioclase as titanium would be from rutile or copper from chalcopyrite. Its also a routine process to analyze for various oxides in rocks (such as CaO, K20, SiO2 etc), but the oxygen is not separated to make that analysis. Silicates are a very stable compound so there is no process - economically viable or not - to produce large quantities of oxygen from plagioclase. I suspect it would be cheaper to send liquid oxygen from earth than it would be to recover oxygen from plagioclase-rich rocks on the moon.
2007-07-27 13:46:06 · answer #1 · answered by minefinder 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
As has been previously said, it's very energy intensive.
But just for jollys:
On the moon, with lots of free solar energy and high vacuum, molten electrolysis might be possible but the problems would be many and the equipment so massive as to have a loooong payback time,
- possibly longer than expected service life.
2007-07-27 21:26:04 · answer #2 · answered by Irv S 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In practical terms it is impossible. I can only think of hydrofluoric acid which reacts with silicates, releasing water, which would then have to be separated into hydrogen and oxygen by electrolysis.
2007-07-27 20:46:17 · answer #3 · answered by andres 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋