What is Dihydrogen oxide

`You're joking, aren't you? Write down what the chemical formula of dihydrogen oxide would be - look familiar?

"Why Are Chemicals Not Named John?"
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Dihydrogen oxide is a widely used fire extinguishing agent plus an indispensable solvent for life processes.

Dihydrogen oxide is used extensively in industry for the dilution of waste streams for treatment by the waste treatment system. It is also known to cause incredible erosion into igneous formations.

IT'S WATER.... H₂O... DIHYDROGEN IS H₂, AND OXIDE IS O... JEEZ ;)

O doesn't exist, it's either O₂ or O with a valence of -2, unless it's O₃.

The chemical symbol for oxygen is 'O' But when written as itself, not part of a chemical bond it is written as O₂. This is because there must be 2 oxygen atoms, otherwise they explode when in contact with other air particles, because the outer electron shell is not full. Having 2 oxygen atoms together completes the shell and makes it full. This is year 8 science.

By the way O2 exists in nature as O2 for the exact reason that it will not constantly react and cause explosion, this already happened in the formation of earth. But in reality oxygen is actually O. The Oxygen we breathe is O2 and the oxygen in the ozone layer is O3. But oxygen itself is just O.

There's a difference between water and dihydrogen monoxide. Water is H20 but covalent. Dihydrogen monoxide is ionic. Oxide is O2-, which means it gives two electrons to two hydrogen atoms, then giving 2H+. And we all know what happens in an ionic reaction, so I won't go further. Thus, dihydrogen monoxide is NOT water, but IS H20.

The mono- prefix is often dropped for the second-named element if it is the only common compound the elements form. Thus referring to H2S as hydrogen monosulfide is much rarer than the name hydrogen sulfide. However, since carbon and oxygen can form several compounds (carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, tricarbon dioxide, and dicarbon monoxide), the mono- prefix is kept, as it is with silicon monoxide and silicon dioxide. Indeed, hydrogen and oxygen do form another common compound, H2O2. Using prefix nomenclature this compound would be called dihydrogen dioxide, also known as hydrogen peroxide. Thus, keeping the mono- in dihydrogen monoxide does serve to distinguish it from another compound.

Mr. Williams from Sydney,
you are missing something..
it is dihydrogen monoxide because they are non-metals.
you use prefix in covalent compounds, when non-metals are bonded together..

just thought I could add some note..*^^*
by the way, this is grade 10 science!

Dihydrogen Oxide/ dihydrogen monoxide is water and is NOT a misnomer, as Mr. Williams from Sydney suggests. Saying that Dihydrogen monoxide should simply be called hydrogen monoxide would be like saying benzene (C6H6) is the same as butyne (C4H6), because although they are definitely different, they should both be called carbon hexahydrogen because you don't put a prefix on the carbon. This is, of course, according to your instructions, Mr. Williams. Please do not confuse people, if I didn't know better, that review would have brought me a failing grade in my class had I read it then. I'm truly sorry if this review rubs against you in the wrong way, I would just like to make sure that undeserved grades are not given because of the would-be-misled students who read your answer and listened to it.

Hi Shelby,
Other posters don't owe the obligation to remain silent for fear that their posting may disagree with a teacher's position or upset a pedant.

Such conventions note that "the important thing is that you convey to the listener what substance you are speaking of". Prefixes like 'di' and 'mono' are often added to avoid ambiguity, or omitted if there is no chance of ambiguity. I believe that ALL of the terms are acceptable if they convey to the reader what chemical we're speaking of. The "conventions" that readers have quoted clearly permit omission of certain numerical prefixes, but I believe that they do not demand that omission.

Regards,

Russell McCrackin,

You forgot another common, non-"Sun" name for the primary star of our system.

Sol.

As much of the popular culture, science, and literature of the world refers to our system more regularly as the "Sol System", if we ever expand civilization to a point where stars are used at markers of travel and tourism, the "Sol System" is more likely to be utilized than the "Helios System".

As for Dihydrogen Oxide. It is a highly corrosive and erosive substance. It can cause respiratory concerns if inhaled, and heart failure if ingested in sufficient quantities. It is resistive to kinetic forces, and cause injury or death if one encounters a sufficient quantity at a high enough velocity.

Professor McCrackin, you are right to chuckle about the wrong identification of 'dihydrogen oxide'.
But the alternative name you suggested for the H2O molecule, i.e. 'oxygen dihydrate', is incorrect.
According to IUPAC nomenclature guidelines, 'hydrate' means that water molecules are *added* to a chemically stable compound, e.g. manganese (II) sulphate monohydrate is MnSO4·H2O.
Therefore 'oxygen dihydrate' should be something like O2·2H20, which clearly does not exist.

I'm afraid now somebody else too is chuckling...

Hi, Andrea. I truly like your answer. Based on your explanation it seems that another good name for water could be "Nullandvoid Hydrate". Such a nice ring to that!

Even Winona Ryder -- with the smoooooothest name ever -- might be jealous of Nullandvoid Hydrate.

Regards,

!! Excuse me, Ted, this is highly unprofessional and irrelevant. I'm extremely distressed and upset because of your response . You have 2 hours to change it. Or else.

Sorry, Karen, it's fixed. And what color M&M's do you demand again?

Luck & Regards,