> Dihydrogen Oxide, being the most important thing to life and to our lives, > has a more exacting descriptions than the other elements and compounds. dihydrogen oxide (better called dihydrogen monoxide so as not to confuse with the OTHER oxide of water, dyhydrogen dioxide or hydrogen peroxide.. technically also an incorrect name and a hangover from earlier days) is a peculiar expression, given that the more correct chemical name would be hydrogen hydroxide as a descriptive name due to reactivity of water allowing it to behave as both alakine and acid, and believe me, discriptive names are critically important in Chemistry you'd hate to be stuck with 'propyl acohol' as a label when you were intending to use n-propanol in something important!. Chemistry tends to be specific, and water is the name given to H2O .. if specifying steam, the gaseous STATE of water, it is called steam, or ice if specifying the solid state of water, but that it is ice does not defeat the fact that it is still water.. nor does steam make it anything other than water either. BTW, the gaseous state of water, steam, does not wet either. Ga likewise is called Gallium even though it may exist right in front of you as either a liquid or a metal, refering to it as Ga liquid or Ga solid may be specific, just as calling solid water ice or gaseous water steam, but believe me again when I say it did not magically change it's chemical composition. Vinegar is no less vinegar because it is called such, but to call it a contaminated solution of acetic acid would be appropriate if we are talking chemistry - we have common names for things when they are in common usage or have specific tasks like 'stop bath'. The name Calgon has been with us for a great many years and that particular phosphate is rarely known even in circles of chemistry (benzene ;-) as anything other than Calgon BUT it is still sodium hexa meta sulphate.. except where it known as sodium hexametasulfate. karl
