4 ms·

That's literally the same as asking "how come hydrogen (flammable) + oxygen (enhances fire) = water (does not burn)?", but we probably have a better mental gras

by o11c 2y ago

That's literally the same as asking "how come hydrogen (flammable) + oxygen (enhances fire) = water (does not burn)?", but we probably have a better mental grasp of how water works.

gruturo 2y ago
Oversimplifying, but you can explain that as "Because water is... the "ash" you get after burning hydrogen and oxygen."
- stergios 2y ago
  I think the intent is that water is a byproduct of combustion.
  - withinboredom 2y ago
    I’m pretty sure the intent was that water is a byproduct of combustion.
- dexwiz 2y ago
  It’s all about electrochemical potential. Adding or removing electrons from the outer shell of an atom involves a fair amount of energy, either being released or stored. Depending on the atom, they either want their shell filled or emptied. Noble gases have the same number of protons as a filled shell, so they are very stable. Why electron shells exist is a whole other matter. Water is kind of like ash. Technically full combustion of any hydrocarbon outputs CO2 and Water. Since water isn’t a greenhouse gas it’s not mentioned when discussing combustion usually.
  - ljf 2y ago
    (boring not pick, water is not a green house gas as sea level, but in the upper atmosphere water vapour most certainly does help to trap heat in the system - https://science.nasa.gov/earth/climate-change/steamy-relationships-how-atmospheric-water-vapor-amplifies-earths-greenhouse-effect/ https://science.nasa.gov/earth/climate-change/steamy-relatio... This is one of the reasons why methane leaks are so impactful - not only is methane a terrible green house gas, when it decays in the upper atmosphere, it decays into water vapour and CO2)
  - aeonik 2y ago
    Water absolutely is a green house gas, and the most significant one at that. https://science.nasa.gov/earth/climate-change/steamy-relationships-how-atmospheric-water-vapor-amplifies-earths-greenhouse-effect/ https://science.nasa.gov/earth/climate-change/steamy-relatio...
somenameforme 2y ago
As a fun aside, there are plenty of rocket engines that run on hydrogen + oxygen. For instance the Space Shuttle Main Engine [1] was fueled by hydrogen + oxygen, which means its exhaust was literally water vapor. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RS-25 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RS-25

by o11c 2y ago

That's literally the same as asking "how come hydrogen (flammable) + oxygen (enhances fire) = water (does not burn)?", but we probably have a better mental grasp of how water works.

gruturo 2y ago

Oversimplifying, but you can explain that as "Because water is... the "ash" you get after burning hydrogen and oxygen."

stergios 2y ago
I think the intent is that water is a byproduct of combustion.
- withinboredom 2y ago
  I’m pretty sure the intent was that water is a byproduct of combustion.
dexwiz 2y ago
It’s all about electrochemical potential. Adding or removing electrons from the outer shell of an atom involves a fair amount of energy, either being released or stored. Depending on the atom, they either want their shell filled or emptied. Noble gases have the same number of protons as a filled shell, so they are very stable. Why electron shells exist is a whole other matter. Water is kind of like ash. Technically full combustion of any hydrocarbon outputs CO2 and Water. Since water isn’t a greenhouse gas it’s not mentioned when discussing combustion usually.
- ljf 2y ago
  (boring not pick, water is not a green house gas as sea level, but in the upper atmosphere water vapour most certainly does help to trap heat in the system - https://science.nasa.gov/earth/climate-change/steamy-relationships-how-atmospheric-water-vapor-amplifies-earths-greenhouse-effect/ https://science.nasa.gov/earth/climate-change/steamy-relatio... This is one of the reasons why methane leaks are so impactful - not only is methane a terrible green house gas, when it decays in the upper atmosphere, it decays into water vapour and CO2)
- aeonik 2y ago
  Water absolutely is a green house gas, and the most significant one at that. https://science.nasa.gov/earth/climate-change/steamy-relationships-how-atmospheric-water-vapor-amplifies-earths-greenhouse-effect/ https://science.nasa.gov/earth/climate-change/steamy-relatio...

somenameforme 2y ago

As a fun aside, there are plenty of rocket engines that run on hydrogen + oxygen. For instance the Space Shuttle Main Engine [1] was fueled by hydrogen + oxygen, which means its exhaust was literally water vapor. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RS-25 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RS-25