If you could swim in a pool full of liquid oxygen, could you breath under the surface?
by 
nike15
ANSWERS: 8
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I dont think there is such a thing as liquid oxygen. The way you turn it liquid is with 2 oxygens and a hydrogen.
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Oxygen gets liquid when it's cold enough, but you wouldn't be OK even if it could be heated up so you didn't freeze. Your body needs more than straight oxygen for breathing - oxygen has to be mixed with other gases to make the right balance for your body. You'd basically overdose on oxygen.
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Air isnt just oxygen. Liquid oxygen would have to be a very low temperature and would kill you.
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I think you are thinking about this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_breathing Liquid breathing is a form of respiration in which a normally air-breathing organism breathes an oxygen-rich liquid (usually a perfluorocarbon), rather than breathing air. It is used for medical treatment and was once considered for use in deep diving[1][2] and space travel.[3] Liquid breathing is sometimes called fluid breathing; however, this usage can be confusing as both liquids and gases are fluids.
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cool beans is way wrong. LOX (Liquid Oxygen) is used as an oxidizing agent in rocketry all the time. You turn oxygen into a liquid by chilling it a bit below the temperature you would want to swim in. Minus 297 degrees Fahrenheit is its boiling point. So your body would instantly freeze solidly through if you dove into a pool of LOX. You wouldn't have time to take a breath. PhoenixFiresky is telling the truth. We can breathe heavily oxygenated air. It sometimes saves lives in oxygen tents in hospitals or portable oxygen for people with COPD or other problems with respiration. But pure oxygen over a period of time would be toxic. http://science.howstuffworks.com/question493.htm A better swimming pool would be one in space filled with enough plain old air to support breathing. If it were at a sufficient pressure, our swimming motions should move us through it just fine.
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With full SCUBA gear, sure! ;-)
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Unlike the other answers I realise from your question you know we cannot actually swim in those temps. if we could you would still drown as the O2 density has changed to become the liquid and your lungs would not be able to handle that kind of pressure.
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No, the boiling point of oxygen is at −182.96 °C. That is the highest temperature at which Oxygen can exist as a liquid. Until you can figure out how to survive at those temperatures while swimming, breathing is the least of your worries. ;-)
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