this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2023
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.

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You can't burn water, because it's already burnt (lemmy.ml)
submitted 1 year ago by arcrust@lemmy.ml to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
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Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material. Water is 2 hydrogen and 1 oxygen. Every molecule is fully oxidized. It's also a common byproduct of fire. Therefore, you can't burn it, because it's already burnt

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[–] mlc894@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

The oxygen atom in a water molecule has an oxidation number of -2 (which is as reduced as it can get in common compounds you’re likely to find, and it has no reason to react further). In hydrogen peroxide, the oxygen atoms have an oxidation number of -1, so not quite as reduced as oxygen would rather be (which is why H2O2 is gonna oxidize whatever is around it. Those oxygen atoms are gonna get those sweet, sweet electrons one way or the other by god!)

The hydrogen atoms are identical between H2O and H2O2; that’s not where the magic happens, so to speak.