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Potassium oxide is a compound of potassium and oxygen used mainly as an intermediate in inorganic synthesis. It is formed by reacting metallic potassium with a limited supply of oxygen. This is done by only oxidizing a small portion of the metal with dry air at a time to prevent peroxide formation. Potassium oxide can also be synthesized by heating appropriate quantities of potassium nitrate with metallic potassium in a vacuum. As the potassium nitrate is heated, it decomposes into potassium nitrite and oxygen. In this manner, the amount of oxygen produced can be carefully controlled and an intimate mixture of the two reagents ensures that the oxygen will react evenly with the potassium. In both cases, an excess of potassium is used and is subsequently vacuum distilled at high temperatures to separate it from the potassium oxide. The two most common synthesis methods are outlined below.