Eli5: If water is 2 thirds oxygen, why do we need lungs?
In: Chemistry
Water is Hydrogen and Oxygen that are chemically bound.
If you looked at a balanced equation, you would see something like…
2x H2O + Energy = 2xH2 + O2
That is, the separate Hydrogen and Oxygen molecules have more stored energy than when they are combined into water. The only way to split water into hydrogen and oxygen is to add that extra energy back.
Even fish don’t actually breath the Oxygen that makes up the water. Instead, they breath the Oxygen that is *dissolved* in the water.
The energy required to split H2O is so much more than we get ourselves. It isn’t actually sustainable.
Latest Answers