Is water always considered nuetral?

Question

Maybe it's always a base or an acid? I would think it's always a nuetral.

Answer 1

For freshman chemistry, general calculations, and theoretical ideal considerations, water is aways neutral and in the real world, this holds as a good assumption most of the time.  There are real world times however when water is not in an "ideal" situation and its pH will not be neutral.  Also, the point we call neutral can change with temperature, so neutral could be pH 6.9 or 7.1.

Answer 2

When considering acids and bases coming from the production of hydronium or hydroxide, pure water is considered neutral with a pH of 7, always. The reason is because pure water is continually partially ionizing itself (autoionization), producing both equal amounts of hydronium with equal amounts of hydroxide.

Answer 3

Yes, because it is one of the products in an acid-base neutralization reaction.