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[-] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 14 points 1 day ago

H2O is neutral PH, and so answer is no. But then water tends to have a bunch of shit disolved in it. So answer is yes.

A self-contradicting proposition based on ambiguity of definition of water, of all things. This statement can be used to make HAL explode.

[-] Rob1992@lemmy.world 1 points 20 hours ago

It's not neutral, pure water is slightly acidic due to free hydrogen

[-] MunkyNutts@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago

If you take into consideration the self-ionization of water, it's both, at the same time.

2 H~2~O -> H~3~O^+^ + ^-^OH

[-] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago

AFAIU, it doesn't change the PH neutrality.

I understand that they self combine/react again? But is that reaction still water?

[-] NielsBohron@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Autoionization and the reverse reaction are constantly happening in water, and when the reaction is happening at the same rate forward and backward the system is said to be "at dynamic equilibrium" (aka, stuff is happening, but there's no net change)

In pure water, the equilibrium concentration of hydronium and hydroxide are equal, so it's said to be neutral. At room temperature, that equilibrium concentration is approximately 1*10^-7 moles per liter, which gives a pH of 7 (since pH is defined as the negative log _10 of hydronium concentration)

[-] lvxferre@mander.xyz 34 points 2 days ago

"I'm whatever you aren't, you fucker" - water, to the substance you mixed with it.

[-] Geodad@lemm.ee 66 points 2 days ago

Considering that water autoionizes, yes - it is both an acid and a base.

[-] Natanael@infosec.pub 16 points 2 days ago

Inclusive or

[-] Someonelol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 25 points 2 days ago

Little bits of it oscillate between hydronium and hydroxide so a little of both but not enough to make a difference.

[-] NielsBohron@lemmy.world 41 points 2 days ago

That's why the meme works. It's not because water autoionizes; it's because water is amphoteric, meaning it can act as either a Brønsted-Lowry acid or BL base depending on what what it's reacting with. Put water with ammonia, and water acts as an acid. Put water with acetic acid, and it acts as a base

Source: I teach college chemistry

[-] AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net 13 points 2 days ago

Water is so cool. I like how the hydrophobic effects drives protein folding

[-] TheOakTree@lemm.ee 11 points 2 days ago

I once brought up in a family dinner how incredible and strange water is, and how we don't really think about it.

It appears naturally in all three phases, expands when frozen, has a high surface tension, has a high specific heat, and can behave as a mild base or acid. Oh, and all the living stuff has water in it.

Nobody really understood what I meant except my sister.

[-] SolarMonkey@slrpnk.net 2 points 20 hours ago

If it makes you feel any better, I totally get it.

I’ve thought many times how different the universe would be (would complex life on earth even work the same way???) if frozen water became more dense and sank like most frozen substances.

[-] JATtho@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Do you know about ortho/para-H~2~O? It only gets weirder.

[-] TheOakTree@lemm.ee 1 points 16 hours ago

Neat, I will be saving this and reading it when I'm less busy... maybe I'll get back to you on it.

[-] I_am_10_squirrels@beehaw.org 24 points 2 days ago
[-] knacht1@lemmy.world 14 points 2 days ago

Do you mean dihydrogen monoxide?

[-] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 8 points 2 days ago
[-] NielsBohron@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

Close, the standard IUPAC acid nomenclature would be "hydrohydroxic acid"

[-] mmddmm@lemm.ee 4 points 2 days ago

Pretty sure the OP meant hydrogen hydroxide.

[-] Una@europe.pub 16 points 2 days ago

Ah yes amphoteric compounds

[-] Kolanaki@pawb.social 5 points 2 days ago

What is the PH of the water? 🤔

[-] spicystraw@lemmy.world 14 points 2 days ago
[-] MTK@lemmy.world 29 points 2 days ago

Oh! So that's why hot water burns you!

[-] nyctre@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

I know it's a joke and all, but it's not just the pH that makes something burn. A regular coke has a pH of around 2.5, for example.

[-] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago

Oh yeah? Then explain the sensation my sphincter feels upon butt-chugging three cans of coke, smart guy?

[-] nyctre@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago

I believe that's caused by the CO2, but I'd have to test to be sure, brb.

[-] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

They still aren't back... Oh god, did you do 4 cans?! Everyone knows you can't do 4 cans!

[-] nyctre@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Now you tell me?!

[-] MTK@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I don't know, I heard that coke can burn a hole in your septum

[-] nightwatch_admin@feddit.nl 4 points 2 days ago

It is the final frontier for either, your meme could have been so much more interesting. SAD.

[-] lugal@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 days ago

Is this about the anomaly of water? I vaguely remember it from school

[-] Una@europe.pub 18 points 2 days ago

No, this is about water being amphoteric compound meaning it behaves like a acid or base in different circumstances.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphoterism

[-] I_am_10_squirrels@beehaw.org 2 points 1 day ago

You mean it lives on land and in the pond?

[-] barsoap@lemm.ee 5 points 2 days ago

The water molecule is amphoteric in aqueous solution

A water molecule in aqueous solution. How can you tell it's being dissolved, or doing the dissolving?

[-] prex@aussie.zone 2 points 2 days ago

In high school I was told that one in avagadros number of water molecules splits into ions.
Is that right? It seems like a very small amount.

[-] phdepressed@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 days ago

The dissociation constant of pure water at RT is 1x10^-14. This is many magnitudes more than just one per avogadros number. The "trick" is that any given molecule of water basically has that 1x10^-14 chance of being split or otherwise whole at any given time.

[-] 21Cabbage@lemmynsfw.com 1 points 2 days ago

Isn't water itself the pretty literal definition of 0 and it doesn't become one or the other until it's a solution with something else?

[-] joyjoy@lemm.ee 23 points 2 days ago

Water is the definition of 7.

[-] 21Cabbage@lemmynsfw.com 8 points 2 days ago

Right, whatever the midpoint was. It's been a minute since my last chemistry class.

[-] CookieOfFortune@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Also I’m pretty sure it’s only coincidentally 7. The calculation for pH isn’t based on any property of water.

[-] wolframhydroxide@sh.itjust.works 10 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Well, yes and no. The pH scale follows the hydrogen ion concentration, but specifically in aqueous media. The reason 7 is in the "middle" of the scale is because the natural dissociation of water sits at equilibrium at 10^-7 M H+ at 298K, IIRC. So perturbations naturally just displace that specific equilibrium, so it absolutely is normative to water.

[-] NielsBohron@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Interestingly enough, in other solvents a neutral pH is going to be a different value. IIRC, ammonia has an autoionization constant of 10^-30, so a neutral pH would be 15

[-] CookieOfFortune@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

By that definition, it can’t be exactly 7 then either. 10^-7 is just an estimate that we’ve agreed works fine. To my knowledge we haven’t really tried to improve this accuracy either?

The exact value varies with temperature, so it's a "good enough for the typical variations in temperature experienced by most aqueous solutions" estimate.

[-] trolololol@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

But is it +0 or -0? Neutral 0 is a lie, a measurement precision error.

this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2025
555 points (98.8% liked)

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