Physical chemists only please -- I am trying to grasp the idea of how fast auto
ID: 1003916 • Letter: P
Question
Physical chemists only please -- I am trying to grasp the idea of how fast auto protolysis happens in a glass of water. I understand that watwr has two covalent bonds and is able to form two other hydrogen bonds, but I am being told two diffent things... If this solution is having autoprotolysis are these covalent bonds and hydrogen bonds the same since the affinity of each oxygen atom to hydrogen atom is the same? I feel that they are changing from covalent to hydrigeb bonds all the time. I am being told they the covalent bonds are never breaking and that the oxygen atoms that are Covalently bonded never move from each other but it makes no sense to me since all the o and h atoms have the same affinity for each other ... Why can't the electon clouds change. When water evaporates what determines which bond is broken. I feel like it is completely random and there and it just depends on which bond breaks to determine which bond is a "hydrogen bond" can someone please explain this in detail from a physical chemistry point of view and NOT a general Chem one. I do not want the same explanation that the hydrogen bonds are broken when water evaporates and the covalent bonds are not . I understand everything general about this process but I am trying to understand the physical process in greater detail and grasp how fast this autoprotolysis is actually happening. I'm being told is does not happen fast so the covalent bonds are keeping threes three atoms together for most of its time as a water molecule but it doesn't make sense that happens to me. I feel like the atoms are exchanging all the time. Physical chemists only please -- I am trying to grasp the idea of how fast auto protolysis happens in a glass of water. I understand that watwr has two covalent bonds and is able to form two other hydrogen bonds, but I am being told two diffent things... If this solution is having autoprotolysis are these covalent bonds and hydrogen bonds the same since the affinity of each oxygen atom to hydrogen atom is the same? I feel that they are changing from covalent to hydrigeb bonds all the time. I am being told they the covalent bonds are never breaking and that the oxygen atoms that are Covalently bonded never move from each other but it makes no sense to me since all the o and h atoms have the same affinity for each other ... Why can't the electon clouds change. When water evaporates what determines which bond is broken. I feel like it is completely random and there and it just depends on which bond breaks to determine which bond is a "hydrogen bond" can someone please explain this in detail from a physical chemistry point of view and NOT a general Chem one. I do not want the same explanation that the hydrogen bonds are broken when water evaporates and the covalent bonds are not . I understand everything general about this process but I am trying to understand the physical process in greater detail and grasp how fast this autoprotolysis is actually happening. I'm being told is does not happen fast so the covalent bonds are keeping threes three atoms together for most of its time as a water molecule but it doesn't make sense that happens to me. I feel like the atoms are exchanging all the time.Explanation / Answer
First of all, the autoprotolysis is a slow process. It is in equilibrium also.
H2O + H2O --> H3O+ + OH-
so here actually the covalent bond between O-H breaks in a water molecule to form hydroxide ion and proton (H+)
The proton is readily captured by other molecule of water to form hydronium ion (H3O+).
So this is how it happens.
It is not a physcial process, it is a chemical process.
During evaporation the bond cleavage in of hydrogen bond. There the molecules get energy and escape from surface of water and hence evaporated.
No cleavage of covalent bond.