eli5: Why O2 and H2 are gasses but H2O is a liquid?

Question

In the same conditions of course.

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

The phase of a substance has to do with its intermolecular forces balancing. In other words, how much the molecules are attracted to each other vs repelled by each other.

But that’s much less important than what I think the main misunderstanding posed by the question, which has false equivalence – it’s like asking why chlorine gas is poisonous, and sodium explodes in water, but table salt is safe. The properties compounds are not decided by the elements they’re comprised of.