Ask A Scientist© Chemistry Archive

  

 >>    name         Cristina
 >>    status       student
 >>    age          30s

 >>    Question -   Why does hydrogen go around without it's electron? How
 >> come it's just a proton most of the time? Is it something to do with the
 >> attraction forces of the nucleus?? Does this mean that it's always ionic?
 >> Can it be ionic without being attached to something else?

Hydrogen usually is covalently attached to another atom.  In such a state,
it shares two electrons.  You will often see protons invoked in
acid-catalyzed reactions.  In the vast majority of these cases, it is not
really a free proton, but instead is surrounded by solvent molecules.  In
water, for instance, what is often depicted as a free proton (H+) is more
accurately denoted H3O+.  This is an ion, but it contains four atoms (three
hydrogens connected to one oxygen).



                Richard Barrans Jr., Ph.D.
                Chemical Separations Group
                Chemistry Division CHM/200
                Argonne National Laboratory
                9700 South Cass Avenue
                Argonne, IL 60439
=========================================================