The difference between carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide

Carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide are often confused or used beside each other. But there is a big difference between carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. With the pandemic of COVID-19 and the prevention of aerosols being spread, ventilation has become a commonly used advice by doctors, governments and health organisations. The measurement of carbon dioxide (CO2) by CO2 meters has become a significant factor in the ventilation advice.

What is Carbon dioxide?

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a smell and colourless gas with a density of about 60% higher than dry air. Carbon dioxide is the gross formula of an inorganic connection between oxygen and carbon. Although carbon dioxide mostly comes in a gas structure, it also has a liquid and a solid form. CO2 can only be liquid if the temperature is below -78 degrees Celsius. Liquid Carbon Dioxide happens when Carbon Dioxide is dissolved in water. Without CO2, life on earth would not be possible.

More information about carbon dioxide? Read our blog on 3 things to know about carbon dioxide

What is Carbon monoxide?

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colourless, odourless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide is toxic to animals that use haemoglobin as an oxygen carrier (both invertebrate and vertebrate) when encountered in concentrations above 35 ppm. However, it is also produced in normal animal metabolism in low quantities and is thought to have some normal biological functions. In the atmosphere, CO is spatially variable and short-lived, having a role in forming ground-level ozone.

When exposed to too much carbon monoxide, you can have the following symptoms:

• Headache
• Lightheadedness
• Weakness
• Dizziness
• Stomach ache
• Nausea or vomiting
• Shortness of breath
• Confusion
• Blurred vision
• Loss of consciousness

The difference between Carbon dioxide and Carbon monoxide

The difference between carbon dioxide (CO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) is that:

• Carbon monoxide (co) is a flammable gas. Carbon dioxide is not.
• Carbon monoxide (co) is a fatal gas for humans and animals.
• Carbon dioxide (co2) is the gas that humans in- and exhale.
• Both gasses are odourless, and cant be smelled

Carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide are oxides of carbon. The difference between carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide in the chemical structure is the number of oxygen atoms. Carbon monoxide has one oxygen atom and carbon dioxide has two oxygen atoms. Carbon dioxide is vital for our survival as it is a component of the carbon cycle. Carbon monoxide on the other hand is hazardous for humans. In this article, we discuss 12 differences between carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.

• Carbon oxide is one of the vital components of the carbon cycle.
• It serves as a greenhouse gas.
• It has one carbon and two oxygen atoms.
• It is also referred to as dry ice with the molecular formula CO2.
• It is obtained from the process of breathing, combustion of organic matter, volcanic eruption, wood, fossil burning.
• It has a molecular mass of 44g/mol.

Carbon monoxide

• It has a molecular mass of 28.01g/mol and formula CO
• It has one carbon at and one oxygen atom which shares a triple covalent bond.
• It is obtained from the smoke of cigarettes, running cards, charcoal burning, fossil fuels, oils, woods, volcanoes, cookers, water heaters, etc.
• It is odorless, tasteless.
• It is a toxic gas high-level exposure gets mixed up with blood-forming carboxyhemoglobin.

Difference between carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide

Are there any similarities between carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide?

Both carbon dioxide and carbon monoxides are binary compounds and oxides of carbon.

See Also

• Monoatomic gas
• Binary compounds
• Gas properties and behaviour
• Changing states of matter
• Atoms
• Difference between isotopes and isobars
• Leptons