this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2023
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Showerthoughts
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So, I'm no chemist, but if H2O is already oxidized, what do you call it when you make hydrogen peroxide - H2O2?
You call that an unstable compound that doesn’t want to exist. Hydrogen peroxide is constantly looking for an excuse to decompose back into water and oxygen. Making it is like rolling a barrel uphill. As soon as you let go, the barrel will roll back down to the bottom of the valley.
It’s like rolling a barrel up a bumpy hill.
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.
Super oxidized?
Checkmate, chemists!
Per - a prefix meaning perfect, thoroughly, or completely.
DiHydrogen Dioxide?