Self-ionization of water
The self-ionization of water (also autoionization of water, and autodissociation of water) is an ionization reaction in pure water or in an aqueous solution, in which a water molecule, H2O, deprotonates (loses the nucleus of one of its hydrogen atoms) to become a hydroxide ion, OH−. The hydrogen nucleus, H+, immediately protonates another water molecule to form hydronium, H3O+. It is an example of autoprotolysis, and exemplifies the amphoteric nature of water.
Chemically pure water has an electrical conductivity of 0.055 µS/cm. According to the theories of Svante Arrhenius, this must be due to the presence of ions. The ions are produced by the self-ionization reaction
This equilibrium applies to pure water and any aqueous solution.
Expressed with chemical activities a, instead of concentrations, the thermodynamic equilibrium constant for the water ionization reaction is:
which is numerically equal to the more traditional thermodynamic equilibrium constant written as:
under the assumption that the sum of the chemical potentials of H+ and H3O+ is formally equal to twice the chemical potential of H2O at the same temperature and pressure.
Because most acid–base solutions are typically very dilute, the activity of water is generally approximated as being equal to unity, which allows the ionic product of water to be expressed as:
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