Eli5: Why do automobiles operate with diesel or petrol but not with water?
In: Physics
Water cannot “burn” like traditional (fossil) fuels, but any hope of extracting energy from it at all, in some other way, can only be crushed by chemistry. A water molecule contains three atoms: an oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms, which bond together like magnets. Breaking those bonds will always take more energy than you get back. A water molecule is very stable. The energy needed to separate the atoms is greater than what you get back. Plus there’s a more volatile problem: hydrogen is dangerously flammable. Without the right safety measures, things can go kaboom very fats.
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