The dissociation constant of pure water at RT is 1x10^-14. This is many magnitudes more than just one per avogadros number. The “trick” is that any given molecule of water basically has that 1x10^-14 chance of being split or otherwise whole at any given time.
Is this about the anomaly of water? I vaguely remember it from school
No, this is about water being amphoteric compound meaning it behaves like a acid or base in different circumstances.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphoterism
You mean it lives on land and in the pond?
A water molecule in aqueous solution. How can you tell it’s being dissolved, or doing the dissolving?
In high school I was told that one in avagadros number of water molecules splits into ions.
Is that right? It seems like a very small amount.
The dissociation constant of pure water at RT is 1x10^-14. This is many magnitudes more than just one per avogadros number. The “trick” is that any given molecule of water basically has that 1x10^-14 chance of being split or otherwise whole at any given time.