HomeWHICHWhich Property Do Solutions With High Ph Values Have

Which Property Do Solutions With High Ph Values Have

Self-Ionization of Water

Water is a molecular compound, so you may not necessarily expect it to break apart into ions. However, sensitive experiments show that water is actually a very weak electrolyte. When two molecules of water collide, there can be a transfer of a hydrogen ion from one molecule to the other. The products are a positively charged hydronium ion and a negatively charged hydroxide ion.

[ce{H_2O} left( l right) + ce{H_2O} left( l right) rightleftharpoons ce{H_3O^+} left( aq right) + ce{OH^-} left( aq right)]

The self-ionization of water is the process in which water ionizes to hydronium ions and hydroxide ions. As with other aqueous acid-base reactions, the process is often simplified to show the ionization of just one water molecule into a hydrogen ion and a hydroxide ion.

[ce{H_2O} left( l right) rightleftharpoons ce{H^+} left( aq right) + ce{OH^-} left( aq right)]

Either equation is adequate, though the first is more accurate, since hydrogen ions in aqueous solution will always be attached to water molecules. Further discussion of acids and acid ionizations in this book will primarily show hydrogen ions in aqueous solution as (ce{H^+}), but keep in mind that this is just a commonly used abbreviation for the more accurate hydronium (left( ce{H_3O^+} right)) structure.

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In pure water, the concentrations of hydrogen and hydroxide ions are equal to one another. Any aqueous solution in which (left[ ce{H^+} right] = left[ ce{OH^-} right]) is said to be neutral.

For any neutral solution at (25^text{o} text{C}), each of these ions has a concentration of (1.0 times 10^{-7} : text{M}).

An acidic solution is a solution in which the concentration of hydrogen ions is greater than the concentration of hydroxide ions. For example, hydrogen chloride ionizes to produce (ce{H^+}) and (ce{Cl^-}) ions upon dissolving in water.

[ce{HCl} left( g right) rightarrow ce{H^+} left( aq right) + ce{Cl^-} left( aq right)]

This increases the concentration of (ce{H^+}) ions in the solution.

A basic solution is a solution in which the concentration of hydroxide ions is greater than the concentration of hydrogen ions. Solid potassium hydroxide dissociates in water to yield potassium ions and hydroxide ions.

[ce{KOH} left( s right) rightarrow ce{K^+} left( aq right) + ce{OH^-} left( aq right)]

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