If pure hydrogen and pure oxygen are both very flammable, why is water not?
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Extremely simply put, chemistry isn’t like mixology.
You mix vodka and soda, you end up with a mixture of vodka and soda. That’s not how it works when bonding atoms into molecules.
“Mix” atoms to create a new molecule, and you’ll end up with an entirely new material that doesn’t have the properties of it’s constituent parts, at all.
Carbon arranged in different ways can give you graphite (pencil lead), coal, or literally diamonds. Add hydrogen to the carbon just so and you get gasoline.
So take your pencil lead, add hydrogen just so, and you get fuel for your car.
See my point? They aren’t remotely similar.
This is why when you see things like “Subway bread is only one molecule off from a yoga mat!” that’s a meaningless comparison, because one molecule could easily account for the difference between edible bread and an inedible yoga mat.
The difference between water and muriatic acid is just “one molecule” too.
So it’s folly to think of water as a “mixture” of oxygen and hydrogen for this reason.
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