4:33 a.m. - 2024-03-03
H52O
“Hey you want to see something crazy?”
“Always.”
“This is gonna freak you out...”
“I hope so.”
My uncle proceeded to fetch a half-empty water jug out of the truck. “Guess what this is?”
“The craziest half-gallon of water ever?”
“Pretty close...it's H520.”
“Fifty-two? How does all that extra Hydrogen bond?”
“Proprietary process, I just met with the guys who came up with it. They wouldn't tell me much...but it's one of those magic atomic numbers where all the loose Hydrogen atoms swarm around trying to get with that one Oxygen, and it holds.”
“What are they gonna do with it?”
“Not sure; they called me to see if we can come up with something.”
“Is it heavier than water then?”
“Yeah – 9lbs. per gallon, water is 8. If you made ice out of it, it would sink.”
We stood there on a mild February afternoon, staring at a half-empty plastic jug. Considering the implications of ice that sank.
“You wouldn't want that in a cocktail...”
“No...it's super acidic.”
“So it would corrode metal tanks?”
“Yeah, you'd have to store it in polyethylene. You know...if you broke that bond you'd release a hell of a lot of Hydrogen.”
“About as much as it took to make it, I'd reckon.”
“Yeah, well...”
We paused again to ponder. The wind died down and a Scrub Jay sang in the canyon.
“I got nothing.”
“Me either...maybe find a Sharpie and write DO NOT DRINK on the jug?”
“Good idea.”
