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Water has two Hydrogen atoms and one Oxygen atom. The two Hydrogen atoms are sharing electrons with the P orbitals of Oxygen. But what do you think would happen if one of the Hydrogen atoms decided to leave the molecule? The Oxygen really likes having the electron from the Hydrogen. So if the Hydrogen decided to leave, there would be a tug of war for the electron. The electronegativity of Oxygen is 3.5. And the electronegativity of Hydrogen is 2.2. So the Oxygen is stronger than the Hydrogen. Oxygen would win the tug of war and keep the electron. When this happens the water molecule is capable of donating a proton. And any molecule that is able to donate a proton is an acid. So water can be thought of as an acid.  The H+ is the protons . The OH- is called a hydroxide ion.  The hydroxide ion is just a water molecule that gave up a proton. It has a total of ten electrons and a total of nine protons (the Oxygen has eight protons and the Hydrogen has one proton). Since there is one more electron than protons, it is an ion with a negative charge. An ion with a negative charge is called an anion. So the hydroxide ion is an anion.

          But now it gets really interesting, because the hydroxide ion wants to accept the proton back. Remember that negative charges attract positive charges. So the negative charge hydroxide ion is attracted to the positive charge proton. And when the hydroxide ion accepts the proton back, the water molecule, HOH, is formed again. The proton is donated and accepted, and then donated and accepted over and over again. Another way to think about it is that the proton jumps on and off  over and over again. So it is the water molecule that donates the proton and it is the hydroxide ion that accepts the proton. Since the water molecule donates a proton, we can called it an acid. The hydroxide ion accepts a proton and there is a special name for all molecules that accept protons. They are called bases. Any molecule that accepts a proton is called a base.

Everyone thinks acids and bases can burn you. So why doesn’t water burn you. The reason is that the proton jumps off and then back on so quickly that it is almost like it never really jump off. If you have the same number of hydroxide ions as protons in a glass of water, then the water is said to be  neutral and the water will never burn you.

Getting Started-Read Me First

1) Playing The Kids for Chemistry The Game

2) Why does the Buzzer Buzz?

3) Protons, Neutrons and Electrons - What atoms are made of.

4) Learn about S and P Orbits

5) More about S orbits

6) More about P orbits - Three Dimensional Space - The P Orbital Rule

7) 3 Dimensional Picture of S and P orbits

8) Identifying the First 20 Atoms by S and P Orbits

9) Keeping Track of S and P Orbits

10) Energy Levels (2,8,8) and the S and P Orbits   

11) Similarities of atoms in a column

12) Molecules

13) A Closer Look at Protons, Neutrons and Electrons

14) Ions

15) Cations and Anions  (Visit Ions first)

16) Electronegativity

17) Acids

18) How water behaves

19) Bases

20) The pH of Water

21) Changing the pH of a Solution

22) Oxidation and Reduction

23) Summary - Ions, Acids & Bases, Oxidation and Reduction

24) Acids, Bases and Salts

25) Adding Acids and Bases together (Visit Acids, Bases, and Salts First)

26) Organic Nomenclature

27) Multiplying and Dividing Units

28) Molecules in a Mole - Avogadro's Number 6.02x10²³

29) Pounds in a Mole - (Visit Molecules in a Mole First)

30) The Buzzer Experiment

31) Make "Kids for Chemistry The Game" Money

Kids for Chemistry The Game

1) The Hydrogen Atom

2) Hydrogen Gas (H2)

3) The Water Molecule (H20)

4) How water behaves

5) Sodium Chloride (NaCl)

6) A Closer Look at Sodium Chloride (NaCl)

7) Chlorine Gas (Cl2)

8) Hydrogen Chloride (HCl)

9) Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH)

10) Hydroxide Ion (OH-)

11) A Closer Look at the Hydroxide Ion (OH^-)

12) Proton (H+)

Links For Math Products

1) The PI Wheel

2) The CosSin Calculator

3) The Cylinder Calculator