Thread: Can water be turned into a pile of solid hydrogen and oxygen?

Hi, im trying to better understand the nitrogen cycle. (im a hard learner aswell.. i seem to learn best if i can visualise it in my head)

anyways i was wondering is it possible? (turning water into a pile of solid hydrogen and oxygen hahah) sounds funny in a way but still
thx!

Hydrogen and oxygen are gases under "normal" conditions. The melting point of oxygen is -218.79 °C and the melting point of hydrogen is -259.14 °C.

However, water can be turned into hydrogen and oxygen gas. Most easily by passing an electric current through it (electrolysis).

Originally Posted by PandaCory

anyways i was wondering is it possible? (turning water into a pile of solid hydrogen and oxygen hahah) sounds funny in a way but still

Yes.
It's called ice.
If you mean separate piles of each you'd have to separate them first, then cool them, considerably.
Oxygen.
Hydrogen.

nice! but do we have a way of turning it back into water? or we just ridded ourselves of some water?

Originally Posted by PandaCory

nice! but do we have a way of turning it back into water?

Light a match (and stand well back).

so if i put some solid hydrogen and solid oxygen in a box and throw a lit match in it, i would have created water? (almost sounds like a magic trick lol)

Magic trick?
It's actually called chemistry.

woudnt that be the purest form of water? i mean, someone somewhere must have a use for such water?

Originally Posted by PandaCory

so if i put some solid hydrogen and solid oxygen in a box and throw a lit match in it, i would have created water? (almost sounds like a magic trick lol)

The magic part would be surviving the conditions under which solid oxygen and solid hydrogen form long enough to light a match.

Liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen are used as rocket fuel: Rocket propellant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Originally Posted by PandaCory

woudnt that be the purest form of water?

"Purest form"?
Water is H₂0.
If it's anything else it's water + extras.

i mean, someone somewhere must have a use for such water?

I discovered that it's useful for drinking.
Raise the temperature to 100^oC, add sucrose and ground coffea arabica (or coffea canephora) and it's very tasty.

Here's a video of "magic" in action.
Mr. Glane Chemistry Demo: Burning Hydrogen and Oxygen to make Water - YouTube

Originally Posted by PandaCory

so if i put some solid hydrogen and solid oxygen in a box and throw a lit match in it, i would have created water? (almost sounds like a magic trick lol)

Assuming there's anything left after the explosion, yes, you would have water.

Originally Posted by Strange

Originally Posted by PandaCory

nice! but do we have a way of turning it back into water?

Light a match (and stand well back).

I have a question. If you add pure O₂ and pure H₂ together, would you really need a match to cause a reaction?

Originally Posted by Bad Robot

I have a question. If you add pure O₂ and pure H₂ together, would you really need a match to cause a reaction?

Unless that bottle in the video I linked to actually exploded early on and the rest of the film was CGI'd then the answer is yes.

Originally Posted by PhDemon

Yes, there is an activation energy barrier (you need to break the H-H bond in H2 to initiate the reaction).

Seems to me that a small static spark would be very dangerous then and match not needed.

Originally Posted by Dywyddyr

Originally Posted by PandaCory

woudnt that be the purest form of water?

"Purest form"?
Water is H₂0.
If it's anything else it's water + extras.

i mean, someone somewhere must have a use for such water?

I discovered that it's useful for drinking.
Raise the temperature to 100^oC, add sucrose and ground coffea arabica (or coffea canephora) and it's very tasty.

Here's a video of "magic" in action.
Mr. Glane Chemistry Demo: Burning Hydrogen and Oxygen to make Water - YouTube

pretty sure drinking water isnt pure water

Originally Posted by PandaCory

pretty sure drinking water isnt pure water

Er...

Originally Posted by Me

Water is H₂0.
If it's anything else it's water + extras.

Originally Posted by Bad Robot

I have a question. If you add pure O₂ and pure H₂ together, would you really need a match to cause a reaction?

I believe you could instead add platinum black to the mixture at room temperature. When doing catalytic hydrogenations, it is standard practice the flush the reaction vessel with nitrogen, both before the hydrogen is introduced at the start of the reaction, and before the reaction vessel is opened to the air at the end of the reaction. If you forget...

Heh, so far, a fun to read thread. I went on a "liking" spree.
But it should carry a disclaimer of "Do not try this at home."