What is a Hydronium Ion?
What is a hydronium ion? Water... Is there a more important or abundant liquid on the face of the earth? It possesses an amazing number of properties. It is essential to our very existence. Water is one of an extremely small number of substances (liquid ammonia is another) that expands and becomes lighter on freezing. Ice floats and forms an insulating, protective crust over underlying water. If ice sank rather and didn't float instead, the ponds and lakes of earth would completely freeze. All living things would die. Structure & Electrical Properties of Water Water's chemical formula is H2O. Occasionally it is written HOH or H–O–H. This way of writing the structure is convenient as long as one is aware of the shortcomings. Water is not a linear molecule. It…