On a simple level, we might say that water is bunch of hydrogen and oxygen atoms. That’s certainly accurate, although it’s pretty easy to go a level more complex: the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen atoms is exactly two to one.
Well… in a manner of speaking, anyway. The number of hydrogen atoms is indeed double the number of oxygen atoms in a given sample of water, but oxygen is 16 times heavier than hydrogen, so you might describe the amount of oxygen as greater than the amount of hydrogen. An oxygen atom has 16 protons and neutrons in its nucleus, whereas hydrogen (H) just has one proton.
Even less simplistic, you might say that water is made up of clusters of atoms called molecules, and that every molecule has two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. These molecules interact with one another in a manner that is different than if the atoms alone were there.
This is all well and good, but you don’t really see the dancing of the molecules when you pour yourself a glass of water. Water’s immediate, tangible form obscures its true backstory, reaching back into the vast expanse of the cosmos and the origins of the universe itself.
Some water has been around for a long, long time. Some of the water on Earth is even older than the Earth itself, although not by much. These ancient molecules, created from hydrogen and oxygen atoms in interstellar clouds, were later incorporated into the primordial dust and gas cloud that eventually coalesced to form Earth.
Outside of earth, there’s clear evidence of 12 billion year old water, all in one cloud that contains 140 trillion times more water than all of our oceans combined.
That’s when those atoms combined to make water molecules, or good old H2O. But when did the atoms themselves come to be?
Oxygen goes back more than 13 billion years—all the way back to January on our cosmic calendar! As impressive as that is, hydrogen has been around even longer. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe by far, and it’s certainly the simplest element. All you need is a proton and an electron, and you’re all set. Conditions were ripe for hydrogen to form as early as a couple hundred million years after the Big Bang.
The next time you take a sip of water, try to think about how old all those atoms are. Think about how the water you’re drinking probably came together four or five billion years ago. Does it change your perspective any?
Yesterday, you've ruined sneezing for us. Today, you're after our H2O? When will this end, I ask?!
Fun fact: Bruce Lee was an avid scientist. He realized that, since people and water are both made of atoms and molecules, we're essentially one and the same. He encouraged us to embrace our shared origins by saying "Be water, my friend" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJMwBwFj5nQ)
...there's a small chance I may have made some of that up.
So, we can say our water was 'aged,' like fine wine is?