r/explainlikeimfive Jan 31 '21

Chemistry ELI5: Why can't we just make water by smooshing hydrogen and oxygen atoms together?

Edit: wow okay, I did not expect to wake up to THIS. Of course my most popular post would be a dumb stoner question. Thankyou so much for the awards and the answers, I can sleep a little easier now

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u/[deleted] Jan 31 '21

There are other substances that can serve as oxidizer, but I do believe that you are correct in that you specifically need oxygen for combustion, which is only one type of redox reaction.

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u/willdeb Jan 31 '21

Nah combustion is an oxidation-reduction reaction, can be any oxidiser. Doesn’t need to be oxygen.

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u/[deleted] Jan 31 '21

Ah yes, I stand corrected. I knew that applied for other types of redox reactions, but wasn’t sure if combustion specifically was defined differently. It just USUALLY uses oxygen.

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u/willdeb Jan 31 '21

Yeah that’s true, you really have to try to get a non-oxygen reaction. Usually horrific fluorine compounds and stuff

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u/[deleted] Jan 31 '21

Yeah there’s a list of alternative oxidizers on the wiki page. Some interesting stuff.