Would it be possible to replace water with hydrogen peroxide on an Earth like planet? I know water and hydrogen peroxide are similar, Also if this configuration is possible what may cause an Earth like planet to evolve life dependent on hydrogen peroxide instead of water?
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2$\begingroup$ You are aware — I hope — that your question is equivalent to asking: "What if all the water on Earth was hair bleach instead?". From Wikipedia: "Hydrogen peroxide is often described as being "water but with one more oxygen atom", a description that can give the incorrect impression of significant chemical similarity between the two compounds. While they have a similar melting point and appearance, pure hydrogen peroxide will explode if heated to boiling, will cause serious contact burns to the skin and can set materials alight on contact.". So no... it cannot happen. $\endgroup$– MichaelKJul 6, 2016 at 21:27
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5 Answers
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No.
Hydrogen Peroxide, while it may look like water and have a similar looking molecular structure, behaves very differently. Firstly, it decays into water chemically, a process that is sped up by any dissolved metals (as an Earth-like planet would have). While the decay of hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen is naturally slow in cool temperatures without these metals (a bit of a stretch on Earth-like, but not entire impossible), it will still decay into water and oxygen over geological periods and leave you with water oceans.
Also, high concentrations of hydrogen peroxide is quite likely to explode at normal temperatures and pressures for the Earth's surface, which would not be good for any surrounding life forms, and would lead to large amounts of hydrogen peroxide turning into water and oxygen.
answered Jul 6, 2016 at 21:04
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A planet where hydrogen peroxide has replaced water as the main biological solution would have to be cold and may also have a low pressure atmosphere. Superficially it may resemble an earthlike planet especially if it has a flourishing biosphere.
Hydrogen peroxide is fiendishly reactive. Highly destructive. Under Earth normal conditions large bodies of liquid will explode or rapidly corrode materials. If conditions were right, it might replace water as life's principal solvent. It will take a lot of work to ensure you can find out what those conditions are. I've gone for low temperatures and pressures because hydrogen peroxide is better behaved under those conditions.
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There has been serious recent proposals that a hydrogen peroxide - water solvent chemistry could work. This was originally proposed for Mars, since mixtures can have a low freezing point of -56.5 C, are hygroscopic (so water is not lost too easily), and maybe fit the Viking lander results. The organisms would be pretty UV sensitive, though (they better be endolithic). While hydrogen peroxide isn't that good for terrestrial life it is actually part of normal biochemistry, and extremophiles adapted to using more of it doesn't sound that impossible.
So I would suggest that a cold planet with little water might be a good place for peroxide life. If the sun is also less UV-bright or there is a good ozone layer it makes more sense.
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Can life adapt to survive hydrogen peroxide ?
perfectly possible, evolution lacks limits.
What could cause animals to drink H2O2 instead of H2O ?
Well probably water slowly becoming more rare and something that mix the remaining water with hydrogen peroxide.
But the process would need to be incredibly slow and it might take more than the lifespan of earth.
Life that could arise from hydrogen peroxide ?
unlikely.... hydrogen peroxide would probably melt biological materials soon after they form, oh and it explodes when heated.
Or at least earth bio matter would just burn immersed in H2O2 but maybe alien building blocks are more resistant
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1$\begingroup$ The problem here is that Hydrogen Peroxide naturally decays into water. So if you have H2O2, you'll have more water before long. And this 'decay' process is rather explosive. H2O2 is also a strong oxidizer, which is really bad for any stable system as it has a strong propensity to cause fires. You may say that 'evolution has no limits,' but chemistry certainly does. And basing life on something that is apt to explode is a horrible idea. $\endgroup$ Jul 7, 2016 at 14:03
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Hydrogen peroxide is used as rocket fuel, so this planet would definitely be unstable. It is very good at causing reactions and is very bad for life. If it was less than 5% Peroxide, maybe, but UV also causes it to break down into water and hydrogen, so unless your creatures were actively putting it back into the water, it would most likely disappear in a few million years.
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1$\begingroup$ Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) breaks down into water (H2O) and oxygen (O2), not hydrogen. $\endgroup$– L.Dutch ♦Aug 12, 2019 at 5:43