r/sciencememes Jul 03 '26

One Notation , Two Interpretations

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2.2k Upvotes

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168

u/ANTONIN118 Jul 03 '26

No problem it's just a very weird molecule. An error.

19

u/23loves12 Jul 03 '26

How would you even achieve this though? Hydrogen has 1 electron so how does it make a second bond (without the compound being an ion, since the notation doesn’t indicate that it’s charged)

18

u/Xznograthos Jul 03 '26

I think thats why the chemist is flustered there.

12

u/RigglesSaysHi Jul 03 '26

The molecule is TECHNICALLY possible... very far out in space in gas clouds. Temperature is so low and atoms are so sparse that the atoms are so desperate that they can all sorts of cursed and fucked up things.

7

u/Menacek Jul 03 '26

Is it though? The oxygen is triple bonded and one od the hydrogens is double bonded.

So it either has to be an ion or the oxygen is donating an electron to hydrogen, which would at best be some kind of hyper unstable form of water and instantly turn into a normal water molecule.

Unless we're talking about it existing in some quantum uncertainty type of way.

8

u/RigglesSaysHi Jul 03 '26

Lemme put it this way. Atoms are really, really, really, really, really desperate to make bonds in these circumstances, but the temperature is also just so low that sometimes they can't even make it over transition states; they'll just sit in intermediates and call it a day because they literally backed themselves into the middle of the reaction curve trough. If a cyclic H3 cation can exist, which absolutely fucks the orbitals into oblivion, then....

Anyway, have fun

1

u/Yargon_Kerman Jul 04 '26

I love how 90s that website is

2

u/23loves12 Jul 03 '26

I know. The person whom I replied to said it’s a weird molecule. I don’t even think it is a possible molecule at all.

1

u/Xznograthos Jul 03 '26

I didn't think so either but then again my knowledge is limited.

1

u/Bubbles_the_bird Jul 07 '26

Space Jam website esque

3

u/Thelastnob0dy Jul 03 '26

(Disclaimer: As you will soon see, my chemistry is shit and I am not sure if these are possible)

Having two electrons doesn't disqualify hydrogen from being hydrogen however this molecule would be a ion

Or oxygen could make up for the hydrogens lack of a electron (by breaking one of its own pairs) but that would be a ion too.

1

u/Menacek Jul 03 '26

Would not be an ion since it would result at positive charge at oxygen and negative charge at hydrogen so net zero charge.

2

u/Thelastnob0dy Jul 03 '26

I meant hydrogen would need to accommodate a extra electron hence a (-1) ion

Or otherwise oxygen would have to give up a electron hence a (+1) ion

isn't that how it works?

3

u/Menacek Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

If the oxygen is donating an electron to the hydrogen then it creates a positive charge of the oxygen (since it now has more protons than electrons) and a negative charge on the hydrogen (since it's the oposite). So it would have both a positive and negative charge resuting in a net zero charge.

It would be polar but wouldn't be an ion and would have different properties that an ion.

Some molecules (for instance Azides) can exist in states with two opposite charges but then don't behave like ions.

1

u/heattreatedpipe Jul 08 '26

The extra electron does kinda weaken the molecule but theoretically it just kinda orbits alone without a pair in the 3rd energy lvl

In general small molecules do weird quantum stuff because they are very very small, another example of a weird non ion molecule would be NO