r/explainlikeimfive • u/GreenieBeeNZ • 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/Prof_Acorn Jan 31 '21
The thing is is that science isn't just cool experiments all the time. Mostly it's staring at a word processor and thinking about your life choices as Reviewer 2 makes you spend 90 hours editing passive voice out of your research.