How are hydrogen ion and hydronium ion and hydroxide ion produced?

Answer 1

Water is also unique in that it is both an acid (with H+ ions) and a lye (with OH- ions). It is thus both acidic and basic (alkaline) at the same time, causing it to be strictly neutral as the number of H+ ions equals that of the OH- ions. Because of its strong cohesion, only few water molecules dissociate (split) in their constituent ions: hydrogen ions (H+) and hydroxyl ions (OH-). Chemists would insist that H+ ions are really H3O+ ions or hydronium ions.

Answer 2

If an acid is dissolved in water, it can dissociate (if it's an ionic compound, such as sulfuric acid, H2SO4) or ionize (if it's a molecular compound, such as hydrochloric acid, HCl), into hydrogen ions and an ion, negatively charged ion. When speaking about acids, hydrogen, H+, and hydronium, H3O+, ions are essentially the same, hydronium is actually how the H+ ion exists in solution, attached to a water molecule, H2O.

A solution with hydroxide ions, OH-, can be formed by dissolving a base, such as NaOH, in water, but it can also be formed by certain reactions, such as that of group 1 and 2 metals with water: EX. Lithium, Li:

2 Li + 2 H2O -> 2 LiOH + H2e

Your question is essentially, how can an acidic (hydronium) or basic (hydroxide) solution be produced.

Answer 3

Hydroxide ions are formed when certain chemical reactions occur or when a hydroxide ion is "pulled off" a molecule in which it is a "detachable" part. This might sound "fuzzy" to many, so let's run with an example or two.

If we look at the Alkali metals, which are in Group 1 of the Periodic Table, we look at a group of metals that will react with water. When any pure metal from Group 1 of the periodic table comes into contact with water, the water, which is H2O, is "torn apart" in the reaction, and two things will happen. First hydrogen gas will be liberated, and second, OH ions (hydroxide ions) will be formed when they "combine" with the metal. (It'll get plenty hot, too.) The metal atoms have "loaned" an electron to the OH part of water to make it OH-, our hydroxide ion. (That leaves the hydrogen to escape.) The metal atoms are left with a +1 charge, which makes them positive ions. Both the metal ions with their +1 charges, and the OH ions with their -1 charges, will be in solution in the water. The OH ion and the metal ion are now in solution in the water, and the OH ion is the hydroxide ion asked about. Let's look a little nearer to home with another example.

If we really look closely at just the water, the H2O, which can be written as HOH, we will see that some water molecules actually "pull apart" some other water molecules. The molecules of water that are pulled apart will exist in solution in the water as H+ and OH- ions, and pure water has a number of these floating around in it. That means that hydroxide ions can be found in pure water (as well as the same number of H+ ions). We've just discovered a couple of instances where hydroxide ions show up.