# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**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, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/41 "2004-05-19T22:35:25Z")
That’s it! Thanks. I wasn’t even close. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/42 "2004-05-19T22:56:00Z")
Won’t hydrogen peroxide, if left to its own devices, naturally decompose into oxygen and water? ---
**Author:** ![noname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@noname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/noname)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/43 "2004-05-19T23:53:59Z")
> [@TJdude825](#): > > …but I think the reason is that all the above methods require a lot of energy, so it wouldn’t be worth it, especially when so much water already exists on our planet. I agree. Why work up a sweat when water is easily available. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2004, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/44 "2004-05-20T01:27:06Z")
> [@noname](#): > > I agree. Why work up a sweat when water is easily available. 🙂 But you could distill water from the sweat ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2004, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/45 "2004-05-20T04:27:52Z")
Note that the OP’s experiment will probably void the warranty on the blender. My high school and college chemistry teachers did it with a balloon full of hydrogen and a candle taped to a yardstick. RAWDuke must’ve slept through that day of his chemistry classes. ---
**Author:** ![RayMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e495f1/32.png) [@RayMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RayMan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2004, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/46 "2004-05-20T04:30:43Z")
Moles, people, _moles_. If you’re gonna talk chemistry, you might as well do it like the chemists do it. No one talks about a “zillion” molecules. Chemists use the term mole to refer to “a whole lotta” of something. One mole of water is approximately 6.022x10[sup]23[/sup] water molecules. Thats a whole lot more than a zillion. It’s almost a trillion trillion. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2004, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/47 "2004-05-20T04:50:57Z")
> [@RayMan](#): > > Moles, people, _moles_. If you’re gonna talk chemistry, you might as well do it like the chemists do it. No one talks about a “zillion” molecules. Chemists use the term mole to refer to “a whole lotta” of something. One mole of water is approximately 6.022x10[sup]23[/sup] water molecules. Thats a whole lot more than a zillion. It’s almost a trillion trillion. Oh yeah? Well, a zillion is a trillion trillion _jillion_! So there 😛 ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2004, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/48 "2004-05-20T08:11:00Z")
> [@RAWDuke](#): > > Dumb question I’ve had bouncing between my ears for a while: > > If I put 1 Zillion atoms of oxygen and 2 Zillion atoms of hydrogen into my kitchen blender and set to “puree” will I end up with 2 Zillion molecules of water? > > I’m guessing not, since there’s probably more required than simple agitation to force atoms to combine into molecules. But, what mechanism would be needed? Hydrogen peroxide? ---
**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 20, 2004, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/49 "2004-05-20T12:45:18Z")
> [@Gunslinger](#): > > Note that the OP’s experiment will probably void the warranty on the blender. > > My high school and college chemistry teachers did it with a balloon full of hydrogen and a candle taped to a yardstick. RAWDuke must’ve slept through that day of his chemistry classes. How? I remember convincing a student teaher to repeat the experiment. She did it a little too close to the window. It was almost as much fun as when we convinced her to put a couple of grams of Potassium in some (pre-made) water. ---
**Author:** ![noname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@noname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/noname)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/50 "2004-05-21T00:01:47Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > But you could distill water from the sweat Thats more work. Better to just turn the tap on. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/51 "2004-05-21T01:29:59Z")
How to think of it in layman’s terms: Water is like ash. It’s what’s left over. That’s why water and ash don’t burn very well and can be used to suffocate fires. They are what’s left over after a burn. That’s why exhaust systiems on cars will rust out faster on cars that are run for short periods rather than extended periods. The water created from the burn settles in the exhaust system and if the temperature doesn’t get hot enough to evaporate it out the water will settle and cause corrosion from the INSIDE. Yes, you can make water but the cost of the energy to create the “ash” makes the process a ludicrouse exercise. Also, one theory is that the oceans were the byproduct of massive electrical storms in the early development of the earth. I’ll leave that to the geoligists and the creationists. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885/52 "2004-05-21T03:14:20Z")
> [@Mycroft H.](#): > > 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! 😃 I may need to make a sig from this. I suspect it’ll be the closest I ever come to being called brilliant in GQ. and yes, it was Jaws. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-make-water/245885.md?page=2)