The self-ionization of water (also autoionization of water, and autodissociation of water) is an ionization reaction in pure water or an aqueous solution, in which a water molecule, H2O, loses the nucleus of one of its hydrogen atoms to become a hydroxide ion, OH−. The hydrogen nucleus, H+, immediately protonates another water molecule to form hydronium, H3O+. It is an example of autoprotolysis, and exemplifies the amphoteric nature of water.
Read more about Self-ionization Of Water: Equilibrium Constant, Dependence On Temperature, Pressure and Ionic Strength, Isotope Effects, Mechanism, Relationship With The Neutral Point of Water
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“The Laws of Nature are just, but terrible. There is no weak mercy in them. Cause and consequence are inseparable and inevitable. The elements have no forbearance. The fire burns, the water drowns, the air consumes, the earth buries. And perhaps it would be well for our race if the punishment of crimes against the Laws of Man were as inevitable as the punishment of crimes against the Laws of Nature—were Man as unerring in his judgments as Nature.”
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882)