I never really gave the matter much thought, but I was told to think of water not as H2O but as the equilibrium of H+ and OH-. From there we’d calculate pH with the Henderson hasselbalch equation yadda, yadda yadda.
Would it be possible , in an extreme environment, to have oceans of pure H+ or OH- with no (or very few) other solutes? Would those still be considered water or something else?
Yes, those liquids do differ from each other. But so do sea water and rain water, for example, but the OP explicitly used the phrase “water on other planets”, which leads the rest of us to believe that he considers both sea water and rain water to be “earth water”, and he’s asking how “water on other planets” is different.
Other idiots don’t let their kids get vaccinated for it.
I understood the question immediately to mean something like “If we brought back water from another planet, or found some in an extraterrestrial object (like a meteor or crashed UFO), is there a chemical way that we would be able to distinguish it from terrestrial water?” The answer would be “Maybe”, depending on the chemicals identified as solutes or suspended particulate within the water sample, or deviant but similar molecules such as but not limited to H3O. Or unexpected presence of radioisotopes.
DHMO is also a major constituent of “acid rain”, it contributes to the corrosion and rusting of many metals, and it decreases the effectiveness of automobile brakes. Prolonged contact with its solid form can cause tissue damage. Accidental inhalation of DHMO is a common cause of death.
yes jtur88. I’m interested on what differences if any we would find in interstellar water. Is moon water drinkable as is? Do scientist have a breakdown of lunar water?
davidmich
Again, the chemical make up of water is H2O. Water on this planet isn’t simply just H2O either and the mineral, contaminant etc make up can vary depending on where you source it. If you’re asking what types of solutes extraterrestrial water might have dissolved in it, that’s a different (and an interesting) question than asking if water isn’t H2O on another planet.
Here’s a Wikipedia article on Lunda Water (Lunar water - Wikipedia). It doesn’t appear any hypothesized lunar water has ever been directly analyzed for it’s composition.
I don’t believe any scientists have found any water on the moon.
[nitpick]H30 would be some kind of wacky giant hydrogen molecule.[/nitpick]
The vast, vast majority of earth water isn’t drinkable as is.
Opening your faceplate for a sip can lead to problems.
I’m thinking that water is likely to be a mineral on the Moon.
Not directly, but it is pretty widely accepted that there is ice on the moon, in permanently shaded parts near the poles.
And there are hydroxyl groups bound to moon rocks.
davidmich, I still don’t really understand your question. Please tell me what you think of this question: Is earth water drinkable as is?
In the opinion of many governmental health agencies around the world, some earth water is drinkable as is, but other earth water is not. And based on that, it is reasonable to say that some of the water on other planets is drinkable, but other water of other planets is not. The tricky part is knowing which is which.
commonly known as “ice”.
Then what you are really asking about is the impurities in this alien water, what it may be contaminated with, what solubles, salts, and minerals it may contain, etc.
Because once you remove those impurities, water is water. The astronauts on the International Space Station drink nice pure water, that really just their own sweat and breath exhalations recycled, with the impurities removed. Or plain old water.
There no such thing as “interstellar water”, “moon water”, “lunar water”, “martian water”, or “Uranus water”-There is Water, period.
But I wouldn’t drink “Uranus water”, all the same.
To the moon, Alice! To the moon!
If that’s the question, then yes - we’d probably be able to tell based just on the water molecules themselves viz. their oxygen isotope ratios or somesuch voodoo.
This
indicates the OP wasn’t asking that deep a question. He was simply asking if water was anything other than H2O elsewhere.