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The self-ionization of water (also autoionization of water, autoprotolysis of water, autodissociation of water, or simply dissociation of water) is an ionization reaction in pure water or in an aqueous solution, in which a water molecule, H 2 O, deprotonates (loses the nucleus of one of its hydrogen atoms) to become a hydroxide ion, OH −.
In chemistry, molecular autoionization (or self-ionization) is a chemical reaction between molecules of the same substance to produce ions. If a pure liquid partially dissociates into ions, it is said to be self-ionizing. [1]: 163 In most cases the oxidation number on all atoms in such a reaction remains unchanged. Such autoionization can be ...
For example, water undergoes autoprotolysis in the self-ionization of water reaction. 2 H 2 O ⇌ OH − + H 3 O + For example, ammonia in its purest form may undergo autoprotolysis: 2 NH 3 ⇌ NH − 2 + NH + 4. Another example is acetic acid: 2 CH 3 COOH ⇌ CH 3 COO − + CH 3 COOH + 2
Autoionization is a process by which an atom or a molecule in an excited state spontaneously emits one of the outer-shell electrons, thus going from a state with charge Z to a state with charge Z + 1, for example from an electrically neutral state to a singly ionized state. [1]
Water is the chemical substance with chemical formula H 2 O; one molecule of water has two hydrogen atoms covalently bonded to a single oxygen atom. [26] Water is a tasteless, odorless liquid at ambient temperature and pressure. Liquid water has weak absorption bands at wavelengths of around 750 nm which cause it to appear to have a blue color. [4]
The water molecule is amphoteric in aqueous solution. It can either gain a proton to form a hydronium ion H 3 O +, or else lose a proton to form a hydroxide ion OH −. [7] Another possibility is the molecular autoionization reaction between two water molecules, in which one water molecule acts as an acid and another as a base.
Usually hydrolysis is a chemical process in which a molecule of water is added to a substance. Sometimes this addition causes both the substance and water molecule to split into two parts. In such reactions, one fragment of the target molecule (or parent molecule) gains a hydrogen ion. It breaks a chemical bond in the compound.
The self-ionization of water can be ignored. This assumption is not, strictly speaking, valid with pH values close to 7, half the value of pK w, the constant for self-ionization of water. In this case the mass-balance equation for hydrogen should be extended to take account of the self-ionization of water.