If it takes two molecules of hydrogen for one of oxygen to form water, why is there more oxygen than hydrogen in our oceans?

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If it takes two molecules of hydrogen for one of oxygen to form water, why is there more oxygen than hydrogen in our oceans?

In: Chemistry

4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

There is more oxygen by mass because oxygen is significantly more dense (more mass per oxygen atom) than hydrogen.

By number of particles (atoms) there is more hydrogen.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

There isn’t, if you count number of atoms. But such measurements are usually done by *weight*, and each oxygen atom weighs, on average, about 16x more than each hydrogen atom. So even though there are two hydrogen atoms per oxygen atom, there’s still 8x more oxygen by weight.

Anonymous 0 Comments

It takes a lot of energy for a water molecule to separate into its components, so the oxygen and hydrogen dissolved in bodies of waters won’t be from there.
Oxygen is produced by photosynthesizing organisms floating in the water, and to an extent it’s released from hydrothermal vents. Hydrogen isn’t produced at the scale of oxygen within oceans.