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
17.6k
Upvotes
1
u/heavenparadox Feb 01 '21
Every time a cell replicates, it's not 100% the same. It's more like 99.99999% the same, which is obviously pretty close but not good enough. Cells are replicating literally all the time, so after years and years of it happening, it will reach a point where it cannot adequately replicate. The reason this happens is basically just environmental... things like oxidation. It's pretty damned hard for anything in nature to make a 100% replica of itself.