# The chemical name for water
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 14, 2004, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739 "2004-11-14T18:55:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2004, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739/1 "2004-11-14T18:55:30Z")
I know that H2O is called water, and I know water is called H2O. But what would this substance be called if the actual chemical elements were pronounced as they are in other substances, for example CO2 being carbon dioxide?
(I used regular-size numerals because I don’t know how to make small numerals on my computer.)
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### Author:  [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739/2 "2004-11-14T18:57:08Z")
dihydrogen monoxide
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739/3 "2004-11-14T18:58:43Z")
Dihydrogenmono-oxide?
[DHMO](http://www.gumbopages.com/fridge/dmho.html)
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### Author:  [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739/4 "2004-11-14T18:59:00Z")
For fun, check out this link: [http://www.dhmo.org/](http://www.dhmo.org/)
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2004, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739/5 "2004-11-14T19:00:04Z")
oops. Extra ‘o’.
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### Author:  [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739/6 "2004-11-14T19:09:27Z")
Aitchtwooski.
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### Author:  [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2004, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739/7 "2004-11-14T19:10:35Z")
**rippingtons\_fan**
I’ve heard it referred to as **hydrogen oxide**.
However, if you think about it, the formula could also be written as HOH and you could think of it as **Hydrogen Hydroxide**.
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### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2004, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739/8 "2004-11-14T19:14:23Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#):
>
> and you could think of it as **Hydrogen Hydroxide**.
Chemically speaking, that’s probably the best, give the way water diassociates into H[sup]+[/sup] and OH[sup]-[/sup] ions.
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739/9 "2004-11-14T19:50:17Z")
How about hydric acid?
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### Author:  [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739/10 "2004-11-14T19:51:29Z")
> [@friedo](#):
>
> How about hydric acid?
Kinda makes you think twice about drinking it. :dubious:
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2004, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739/11 "2004-11-14T19:52:54Z")
> [@Lobsang](#):
>
> Kinda makes you think twice about drinking it. :dubious:
My 9th grade chem teacher had a big poster on the wall which read:
> [@](#):
>
> Johnny was a chemist,
> But Johnny is no more,
> For what he thought was H[sub]2[/sub]O,
> Was H[sub]2[/sub]SO[sub]4[/sub].
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### Author:  [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2004, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739/12 "2004-11-14T19:59:32Z")
> [@friedo](#):
>
> My 9th grade chem teacher had a big poster on the wall which read:
Mine too, except hers was:
> [@Ms. Moon](#):
>
> Little Johnny had a drink
> But he will drink no more
> For what he thought was H[sub]2[/sub]O
> Was H[sub]2[/sub]SO[sub]4[/sub]
She also made us do a report on the perils of “dihydrogen monoxide” without tell us what it was.
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### Author:  [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2004, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739/13 "2004-11-14T20:08:15Z")
> [@CapnPitt](#):
>
> For fun, check out this link: [http://www.dhmo.org/](http://www.dhmo.org/)
That’s a great site. I have book marked it for when I’m bored.
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### Author:  [@vinniepaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vinniepaz)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739/14 "2004-11-14T20:17:47Z")
i’m only a quarter of the way through tenth grade chemistry, so help me out.
dihydrogen sulfur four oxygen? whats that?
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### Author:  [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739/15 "2004-11-14T20:22:46Z")
> [@vinniepaz](#):
>
> i’m only a quarter of the way through tenth grade chemistry, so help me out.
>
> dihydrogen sulfur four oxygen? whats that?
-SO[sub]4[/sub] is the sulfate ion, so it’d be dihydrogen sulfate – better known as sulfuric acid. :eek:
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### Author:  [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739/16 "2004-11-14T20:35:54Z")
> [@rippingtons\_fan](#):
>
> I(I used regular-size numerals because I don’t know how to make small numerals on my computer.)
What you want for H[sub]2[/sub]O is the {sub} coding – you put the code “sub” within square brackets before the characters you want to be subscripted, the 2 in this case, and “/sub” to close it, again in square brackets, after them. You can do the same thing with superscripts: U[sup]239[/sup] by using “sup” instead of “sub.” Finally, you can vary the size of characters in a line without making them subscript or superscript with the “size=” code.
For example: really small text can be mixed with normal text like this, big text, and giant economy size text all in a single line. To get this effect (which you should use sparingly), you code the four sizes (1=small, 2=normal, 3=big, 4=extrabig) as size=1, size=2, etc., within square brackets, turning any of them off with “/size” (no equals and number) within square brackets. The default, of course, is 2 – with no size coding, the whole post is in size=2 font.
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### Author:  [@Zarina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zarina)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739/17 "2004-11-14T21:17:35Z")
Ah yes, I came across the dihydrogen monoxide thing in a chemistry lesson. 🆒
Isn’t it amazing how language can be manipulated such as the dhmo site showed. It makes me wonder what else is going on…
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2004, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739/18 "2004-11-14T21:27:03Z")
> [@friedo](#):
>
> My 9th grade chem teacher had a big poster on the wall which read:
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > Johnny was a chemist,
> > But Johnny is no more,
> > For what he thought was H[sub]2[/sub]O,
> > Was H[sub]2[/sub]SO[sub]4[/sub].
Little Johnny washed his face
His face we’ll never see
'Cause what he thought was H[sub]2[/sub]O,
Was HNO[sub]3[/sub]
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### Author:  [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2004, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739/19 "2004-11-14T23:00:23Z")
hydr- or hydro- prefixes.
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### Author:  [@Mbossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mbossa)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chemical-name-for-water/274739/20 "2004-11-15T00:06:57Z")
I’ve always thought **hydrogen hydroxide** , for exactly the same reason as **Tapioca Dextrin**.
But because I’m a geek, I decided to see what [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_%28molecule%29) has to say about it. Apparently, water has different systematic names depending on whether it’s acting as an acid or a base. When it’s a base, it’s **hydrogen hydroxide**. When it’s an acid, it’s **hydroxic acid** or **hydroxilic acid**. Nasty-sounding stuff!
Most chemists seem to be happy to call it **water**. Quite disappointing, really. You’d think they’d try harder.
Wow! I just saw the safety notices on that Wikipedia article.
> [@](#):
>
> …Excessive consumption may cause cramps, and may eventually lead to electrolyte imbalance due to osmosis, causing headache, confusion, and possibly coma or death…
>
> …can dissolve surfactant of lungs and collapse alveoli, leading to asphyxia. May upset electrolyte levels much more rapidly than ingestion…
Ouch! But it also says it’s necessary to life, so it’s not all bad.
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