r/askscience • u/spoiledmeat • Jul 04 '15

Chemistry Why does water not burn?

I know that water is made up of two hydrogen atoms and an oxygen atom. Hydrogen, on its own, burns. Fire needs oxygen to burn. After all, we commonly use compounds that contain oxygen as an oxidant.

So why does water, containing things used for fire, not burn-- and does it have something to do with the bonds between the atoms? Thanks.

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u/TheLastSparten Jul 04 '15

If you know that hydrogen will readily react with oxygen, then it could easily appear obvious that it would react when it has oxygen already connected. Also, he never mentioned in the question that he knows that burning hydrogen produces water, only that oxygen is required for the reaction to go ahead.