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How do different bodies of water have different levels of dissolved oxygen when all water molecules are H2O? (kbin.social)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by mrbigmouth502@kbin.social to c/NoStupidQuestions@kbin.social

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I've never really understood how that works. Chemistry wasn't my best subject in high school, and it's been over a decade since then for me.

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[–] aMalayali 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The O in H2O is oxygen, but it isn't dissolved oxygen.
It's part of water. A water molecule consists of 2 Hydrogen atoms and an Oxygen atom.

The oxygen atom has chemically bonded with the hydrogen atoms. The O there isn't existing as a separate gas.
So, The dissolved oxygen is something different from the O in H2O.

And the dissolved oxygen is influenced by things like temperature, pressure, other things dissolved in the water n all.