Justify the statement that water behaves like acid as well as a base on the basis of the protonic concept.
Water ionizes as H2O + H2O ⇌ H3O+ + OH– With strong acids, water behaves as a base by accepting a proton from an acid. HCl + H2O ⇌ H3O+ (aq) + Cl– (aq) While with bases, water behaves as an acid by liberating a proton NH3 + H2O ⇌ NH4+ (aq) + OH (aq).
