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Owen
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Another way of looking at this is that things that would be destroyed by the environment (be it heat, light, etc) havelikely already have been destroyed (like ice on a hot summer day), unless you happen to catch them right at the moment they are being destroyed. The things that you see around you are the ones where the bond energy was high enough that they survived.

To take an analogy, consider the difference between comets and asteroids. Comets spend most of their time far away from the sun, so they are more likely to contain material that would decompose if brought near the sun, resulting in the comet tail. Asteroids, on the other hand, stay a more constant distance from the sun, so any material they might have had once that was susceptible to decomposing has long since disappeared. We say comets are "volatile," but it's just a matter of degree; asteroids would decompose too if they got much closer to the sun.

Or, another analogy, it would be like going up on a high mountain and asking why the animals there are able to survive the cold temperatures and thin air. Those animals are there because they are able to survive the conditions.

So, there are plenty of materials that would be destroyed by room temperature air. You're just unlikely to encounter them because odds are they would already be destroyed.

Another way of looking at this is that things that would be destroyed by the environment (be it heat, light, etc) have already been destroyed (like ice on a hot summer day). The things that you see around you are the ones where the bond energy was high enough that they survived.

Another way of looking at this is that things that would be destroyed by the environment likely already have been destroyed, unless you happen to catch them right at the moment they are being destroyed. The things that you see around you are the ones where the bond energy was high enough that they survived.

To take an analogy, consider the difference between comets and asteroids. Comets spend most of their time far away from the sun, so they are more likely to contain material that would decompose if brought near the sun, resulting in the comet tail. Asteroids, on the other hand, stay a more constant distance from the sun, so any material they might have had once that was susceptible to decomposing has long since disappeared. We say comets are "volatile," but it's just a matter of degree; asteroids would decompose too if they got much closer to the sun.

Or, another analogy, it would be like going up on a high mountain and asking why the animals there are able to survive the cold temperatures and thin air. Those animals are there because they are able to survive the conditions.

So, there are plenty of materials that would be destroyed by room temperature air. You're just unlikely to encounter them because odds are they would already be destroyed.

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Owen
  • 495
  • 4
  • 12

Another way of looking at this is that things that would be destroyed by the environment (be it heat, light, etc) have already been destroyed (like ice on a hot summer day). The things that you see around you are the ones where the bond energy was high enough that they survived.