# Can I make water? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 19, 2004, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885 "2004-05-19T01:40:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/21 "2004-05-19T11:56:20Z")
You can use platinum as the catalyst. I sw a good film of this once – a jet of hydrogen was played across a platinum mesh. The hydrogen attaches itself to the platinum, then combines with ambient oxygen to create water. The platinum mesh gets awfully hot while this is going on, though. I’ve also seen a film with a container of hydrogen and oxygen gas being shocked by (?) a Tesla coil, and water resulting. ---
**Author:** ![RAWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@RAWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWDuke)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/22 "2004-05-19T12:23:06Z")
> [@antechinus](#): > > However you get them to combine, you would only end up with **1 zillion molecules of water** , not 2 zillion. I KNEW that :smack: I KNEW that :smack: I KNEW THAT! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![RAWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@RAWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWDuke)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/23 "2004-05-19T12:31:59Z")
> [@antechinus](#): > > I would except one zillion is an indeterminate number. Hey, that’s an exact number. It’s ten times more than 0.1 Zillion. 😃 Maybe I should have titled the thread “Could I make water this way” but the discussion has been, as usual, both entertaining and informative. But briefly, hydrogen and oxygen in the proper 2 to 1 ratio, won’t just combine to make water, there has to be some kind of catalyst. Correct? ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/24 "2004-05-19T12:32:27Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > OK, so you’re telling me to take two highly inflammable (explosive?) gases and just turn up the heat and instead of blowing up I’ll get a glass of Evian. Right. See? That’s the beauty of it. You’ll blow up **AND** get a glass of Evian. Two for the price of one. Whatta bargain. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/25 "2004-05-19T13:34:20Z")
> [@](#): > > But briefly, hydrogen and oxygen in the proper 2 to 1 ratio, won’t just combine to make water, there has to be some kind of catalyst. Correct? Briefly, Yes – though heat (i.e. a match or flame) works, too. Slightly less briefly, they will combine without a catalyst, just verrry slooowwwwly. Too slowly to notice, until you get things moving with heat or some platinum, etc. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/26 "2004-05-19T13:39:50Z")
> [@flamingbananas](#): > > Gosh. If you can make water, then why is my mother making me take shorter showers? Why don’t we just make lots more water, for the sake of all showers? I’ll point out that while this process CAN work. as many people have pointed out, it isn’t practical for mass production out of water because hydrogen gas is in short supply around our neck of the woods. (ie the planet earth.) As I understand it, hydrogen is extracted mostly either from water (the reverse of the process under discussion - electrolytic seperation of water molecules, which requires a lot of energy,) or from fossil fuels, which we all know are pretty pricey and getting slowly harder to come by. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/27 "2004-05-19T13:42:20Z")
> [@RAWDuke](#): > > But briefly, hydrogen and oxygen in the proper 2 to 1 ratio, won’t just combine to make water, there has to be some kind of catalyst. Correct? You need a catalyst if you want the reaction to proceed reasonably fast at room temperature. This is because a catalyst lowers the activation energy necessary to get the reaction going. Alternatively, you could simply raise the temperature. A match will do this nicely. Since the combustion of hydrogen in the presence of oxygen is exothermic, the heat produced by the reaction will make the continued reaction self-sustaining until you run out of one of the reactants. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/28 "2004-05-19T15:20:58Z")
> [@antechinus](#): > > oh alright 55.5 moles > PV=nRT > ~1370L of H[sub]2[/sub] > ~680L of O[sub]2[/sub] > > So about 2000L of the gases condenses to 1L of water, all at STP… We’re going to need a bigger blender. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/29 "2004-05-19T17:16:59Z")
> [@RAWDuke](#): > > But briefly, hydrogen and oxygen in the proper 2 to 1 ratio, won’t just combine to make water, there has to be some kind of catalyst. Correct? No, there doesn’t have to be a catalyst. You can just set the hydrogen on fire. A match ain’t a catalyst, it’s just a bit of heat to start the reaction. However, as stated above, you _can_ use a catalyst to perform the process. Platinum or (if I recall correctly) palladium mesh will do it, even at normal temperatures. But a great deal of heat will still be produced, because water has less energy and less entropy than gaseous hydrogen and oxygen. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/30 "2004-05-19T17:20:41Z")
BTW, forgot to mention that 2 zillion molecules of hydrogen and 1 zillion molecules of oxygen make _2 zillion_ molecules of water. Hydrogen and oxygen are H2 and 02, respectively, in their gas forms, fool! 2(H2) + (O2) --\> 2(H20) ---
**Author:** ![RAWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@RAWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWDuke)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/31 "2004-05-19T17:39:46Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > BTW, forgot to mention that 2 zillion molecules of hydrogen and 1 zillion molecules of oxygen make _2 zillion_ molecules of water. Hydrogen and oxygen are H2 and 02, respectively, in their gas forms, fool! > > 2(H2) + (O2) → 2(H20) um…ya, but…ya,but…ummmmmm,ya but wait a minute. 2 zillion ATOMs of hydrogen is actually 1 zillion molecules of 2(H2)? And 1 zillion ATOMS of oxygen is actually 0.5 zillion molecules of O2? And combined, we get water that’s actually 2(H2O)? Way TMI 😃 Now, if I could just add a lit match and get BEER 😃😛😛 ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/32 "2004-05-19T17:44:28Z")
> [@RAWDuke](#): > > Now, if I could just add a lit match and get BEER 😃😛😛 Sure, you could do that, but in order to put bubbles in it, you’ll need to split a beer atom. Now, where’s that chisel? ---
**Author:** ![RAWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@RAWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWDuke)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/33 "2004-05-19T17:59:42Z")
> [@Mausmagill](#): > > Sure, you could do that, but in order to put bubbles in it, you’ll need to split a beer atom. > > Now, where’s that chisel? Hate to quibble, but isn’t that a beer molecule? And, if you split it, you get LITE beer! :eek: I think you need to fuse beer molecules to get decent beer 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/34 "2004-05-19T18:08:44Z")
> [@RAWDuke](#): > > 2 zillion ATOMs of hydrogen is actually 1 zillion molecules of 2(H2)? And 1 zillion ATOMS of oxygen is actually 0.5 zillion molecules of O2? And combined, we get water that’s actually 2(H2O)? The coefficients in front of the formulas for molecular oxygen (O[sub]2[/sub]), molecular hydrogen (H[sub]2[/sub]), and water (H[sub]2[/sub]O) are not part of the formulas. They simply indicate that two hydrogen molecules must react with one oxygen molecule to get two water molecules. Getting fancy with my coding, the balanced chemical equation for this is: 2H[sub]2[/sub] _(g)_ + O[sub]2[/sub] _(g)_ ----\> 2H[sub]2[/sub]O _(g)_ ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/35 "2004-05-19T18:43:45Z")
> [@RAWDuke](#): > > Hate to quibble, but isn’t that a beer molecule? Not true! Ever since the discovery of atom number 133, Brewskium, which has a half-life of about 45 minutes until you need to pee it out… ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/36 "2004-05-19T18:59:39Z")
> [@antechinus](#): > > However you get them to combine, you would only end up with **1 zillion molecules of water** , not 2 zillion. What would the cost of such an operation be, in samoleons? ---
**Author:** ![RAWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@RAWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWDuke)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/37 "2004-05-19T19:02:10Z")
> [@scotandrsn](#): > > Not true! Ever since the discovery of atom number 133, Brewskium, which has a half-life of about 45 minutes until you need to pee it out… OK, so THAT’S where lite beer comes from. It’s a half-life :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/38 "2004-05-19T21:42:50Z")
> [@Mausmagill](#): > > Sure, you could do that, but in order to put bubbles in it, you’ll need to split a beer atom. > > Now, where’s that chisel? I never thought I’d live to see the day a _Young Einstein_ reference was made on the SDMB. Do I hear a seal opening? ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mycroft\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_H)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/39 "2004-05-19T21:47:44Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > We’re going to need a bigger blender. ROTFL! Thank you for the laugh. What a thread, _Young Einstein_ and that one, which, for the life of me, I can’t quite place. (_Young Frankenstein_?) Absolute brilliance! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/40 "2004-05-19T22:19:55Z")
Isn’t is a play on “we’re going to need a bigger boat” from _Jaws_? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885.md?page=3)