A man was walking through the Sahara desert, and was dying of thirst. His caravan was attacked by a group of brigands. He ran off, and the brigands let him live. He was desperately trying to find water, when he stumbled upon a random town. He went up to a random man, and pleaded for water. The Arab said 10 dollars. The man gladly paid him. The Arab handed him a jug that said H2O2. The man shouted, WATER! and drank half of the bottle. He said his thanks, and walked off. After about 10 steps he fell to his knees, vomited and died. Why did he die?
Answer
The Arab handed him a jug of H2O2, which is two hydrogen atoms bonded to two oxygen atoms. H2O2 is very similar to H2O (water). However, the extra oxygen atom creates a different substance called hydrogen peroxide. This is the substance we use to doctor our wounds. If drunk, it would make you lose nearly all body fluids. Since the man was dehydrated, he had almost no fluids to lose, making him die 10 times quicker than if he hadn’t drunk the substance.