Please sign my petition
It’s time for a little humor — with a point.
Penn and Teller revived an old joke about dihydrogen monoxide. This You Tube video contains a message for all of us, no matter where you sit on the political spectrum: Check things out before taking your stand.
As an aside, when I was involved in chemistry a million years ago, I can’t recall anyone using the term “dihydrogen monoxide.” I think water would be more appropriately called hydrogen hydroxide, but that’s an entirely different issue.
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Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
January 22nd, 2008 at 12:03 pm
You are correct, there are more common words that we presently use to describe H2O, including hydrogen hydroxide while Dihydrogen oxide (or dihydrogen monoxide) is a somewhat archaic chemical term for water.
I went to Google answers and grabbed this:
Calling water by this name makes it sound exotic, and there have been
many pranks associated with this. I’ve gathered some information for
you on the subject.
“Naming Compounds
The formula for water can be H2O or HOH. What are two possible chemical names?
Answer: Although water is the common and preferred name, other
possibilities are: hydrogen monoxide, dihydrogen monoxide, dihydrogen
oxide, hydrogen oxide, hydrogen hydroxide.”
Armchair Chemistry: Atoms, Molecules, Formulas & Equations
http://chemsrvr2.fullerton.edu/HES/atoms_molecules/atoms_mol_tchr.htm
Kathleen
January 22nd, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Interesting. The signers weren’t ‘hippies’ (the old hippies I knew would never sign anything they didn’t understand) – these signers were innocent, trusting people who wanted to do the right thing…the spiel and performance was convincing.
Thanks for the lesson, Christopher – I probably would have signed it, presented the same way…and I was never a ‘hippy’….
Sharon O’Hara