Water as an Acid/Base

[Courtney McHargue 1I]

Is water's identity as an acid or base solely determined by being the opposite of what it's reacting with?

[taryn_baldus2E]

Yes, essentially water can be either an acid or a base depending on whether it is reacting with an acid or base.

[Nikitha_lakshminarayanan3I]

Water is amphoteric.

[Jonathan Pai 2I]

Depends if it loses or accepts and H.

[Minsub Lee 3E]

Water can both act as an acid or base depending on the chemical reaction. When reacting with HCl, it acts as a base because it is accepting the H+ from HCl to form H3O+. However, when reacting with NH3, it acts as an acid because it is donating a proton to NH3 to form NH4.

[Daniel Chang 3I]

Water can be both depending on if its the accepter or donater of a H+ ion

[305117729]

water's identity depends on the reaction it's involved in. When acids are dissociated in water, water reacts as a base, while water reacts as an acid when bases are dissociated in water.

[Athena L 1B]

so water is amphoteric and amphiprotic

[Rehan Chinoy 1K]

Yes, water is amphoteric and amphiprotic.

[Bella Martin]

is there a list of compounds that also are an acid/base just like water? or are you able to recognize it by looking at it?

[Chris Charton 1B]

You can recognize it because it will have a H+ to give, and be able to receive an H+.

An example would be HPO4 (2-)

[Rodrigo2J]

Essentially, the answer is yes. Due to H2Os amphoteric nature, it will act as the opposite of what it is reaction with. If it reacts with a base then it will be considered an acid and if it reacts with an acid it will become the base.

[Edmund Zhi 2B]

Yes because water is amphoteric and you would have to look at what it's reacting with

[thanh24mai]

water can be both; it's amphoteric

[Max Madrzyk Dis 4G]

yes, water can either act as an acid or base depending on what it is reacting with.

[Shutong Hou_1F]

Yes, and essentially, this rule works because it means the same thing as determining water acts as an acid or a base according to whether water donates/accepts protons (Bronsted's definition).

[Veronica Lu 2H]

water can act as both an acid and a base

[Arvind 4G]

Water can be an acid or a base depending on what it is reacting with

[SimranSangha4I]

It can actually act as both, it really depends on the situation.

[205154661_Dis2J]

Yes H2O is an amphoteric compound so it depends fully on what it is reacting with.

[Jainam Shah 4I]

Water can act as a bronsted acid by donating an H+ proton to become OH-. While it can act as a bronsted base by accepting the proton becoming H3O+.