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In chemistry, hydronium (hydroxonium in traditional British English) is the cation [H 3 O] +, also written as H 3 O +, the type of oxonium ion produced by protonation of water.It is often viewed as the positive ion present when an Arrhenius acid is dissolved in water, as Arrhenius acid molecules in solution give up a proton (a positive hydrogen ion, H +) to the surrounding water molecules (H 2 O).
By definition, an acid is an ion or molecule that can donate a proton, and when introduced to a solution it will react with water molecules (H 2 O) to form a hydronium ion (H 3 O +), a conjugate acid of water. [4] For simplistic reasoning, the hydrogen ion (H +) is often used to abbreviate the hydronium ion.
Hydronium is one of a series of oxonium ions with the formula R n H 3−n O +.Oxygen is usually pyramidal with an sp 3 hybridization.Those with n = 1 are called primary oxonium ions, an example being protonated alcohol (e.g. methanol).
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.
Protons tunnel across a series of hydrogen bonds between hydronium ions and water molecules.. The Grotthuss mechanism (also known as proton jumping) is a model for the process by which an 'excess' proton or proton defect diffuses through the hydrogen bond network of water molecules or other hydrogen-bonded liquids through the formation and concomitant cleavage of covalent bonds involving ...
In 1884, Svante Arrhenius proposed that a base is a substance which dissociates in aqueous solution to form hydroxide ions OH −. These ions can react with hydrogen ions (H + according to Arrhenius) from the dissociation of acids to form water in an acid–base reaction. A base was therefore a metal hydroxide such as NaOH or Ca(OH) 2.
The removal of H + from the HCl produces the chloride ion, Cl −, the conjugate base of the acid. The addition of H + to the H 2 O (acting as a base) forms the hydronium ion, H 3 O +, the conjugate acid of the base. Water is amphoteric – that is, it can act as both an acid and a base.
Note that in solution H + exists as the hydronium ion H 3 O +, and further aquation of the hydronium ion has negligible effect on the dissociation equilibrium, except at very high acid concentration. Figure 2. Buffer capacity β for a 0.1 M solution of a weak acid with a pK a = 7