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A Water Molecule's Chemical Formula Isn't Really H20

Posted by timothy on from the at-least-not-all-the-time dept.

hackwrench writes "According to this article in Physics News Update, a water molecule's chemical formula is really not H2O, at least from the perspective of neutrons and electrons interacting with the molecule for only attoseconds (less than 10-15 seconds). According to new and recent experiments, neutrons and electrons colliding with water for just attoseconds will see a ratio of hydrogen to oxygen of roughly 1.5 to 1, so a more accurate formula for water under these circumstances would be H1.5O."

4 of 103 comments (clear)

  1. Still water! by trompete · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, as long as it's still wet, there's no reason to panic.

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    More than enough BS
  2. Re:water in time by Creepy+Crawler · · Score: 5, Funny

    And if it was H2O.99999973 , we'd know what CPU they used to count it with....

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  3. Re:H2O, H3O, and OH by jonadab · · Score: 5, Funny

    > The big deal is you'd end up with a glass 125% full of water.

    Ah, but if you take a couple of sips, then you'll have a glass that
    is three-quarters full and three-quarters empty. Get another glass
    just like it, drink yet a few _more_ sips out of it, until it's
    one-quarter full and one-quarter empty, pour them together, and the
    glass will be full and not full. You know, the full glass that
    cannot be empty is not the true full glass, and all that zen rot.

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    Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
  4. Wish there was more detail on the experiment by jgoemat · · Score: 5, Insightful
    This does not mean that water molecules have one and a half hydrogen atoms at all. If you use electrolysis to separate the hydrogen and oxygen from a quantity of water, you will get VERY close to twice the number of oxygen atoms as hydrogen. If they gave a little more detail on their experiments it would be helpful to judge what they actually mean.

    For instance, if they are just shooting electrons and neutrons at water and counting how many hit hydrogen nuclei and how many hit oxygen nuclei, you would expect a larger number than normal to hit oxygen since the nucleus is larger (three times the protons and neutrons of hydrogen). They do say "25% fewer protons than expected", but they don't say what they expected or why.

    Also, did they have the water in a vacuum chamber? If not, there would be dissolved gasses present in the water that their beam could hit as well. I didn't notice any count for Nitrogen so they must not have done it in a glass sitting on a table, but they don't say.