Does water self ionize to protons or hydronium ions, or both?

Asked Oct 09 '17 at 13:43

Active Oct 09 '17 at 13:43

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The most common equation for the self ionization of water I've seen is with protons and hydroxyl ions as products.

H₂O ⇌ H⁺ + OH^-

I've also seen the following equation with hydronium ions as a product instead of protons

2H₂O ⇌ H₃O⁺ + OH^-

Does the first equation actually happen, or is it just an abbreviation for the second? Or do both species (hydronium and protons) exist in solution, or something more complicated?

asked Oct 09 '17 at 13:43

James Hiew

Bare protons do not exist in chemistry. First form is a shorthand for the second. – Ivan Neretin Oct 09 '17 at 13:54
2

Ivan is right but technically even the second equation is a short hand for how acidic protons are held by a whole network of H2O. – Tyberius Oct 09 '17 at 14:16

Does water self ionize to protons or hydronium ions, or both?

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