[whylolzz]

Hey guys,
I know acids such as HCl can ionize in water: HCl + H₂O H₃O⁺ + Cl^-
But can an ion such as ammonium ionize? NH₄⁺ + H₂O NH₃ + H₃O⁺

Also, is ammonium a weak acid? (since it's a conjugate of a base NH₃)

Thanks for your help

[AWK]

Why pH of, say, NH₄Cl in water is about 5?

[whylolzz]

Why pH of, say, NH₄Cl in water is about 5?

Are you referring to the part where I mentioned whether ammonium is a weak acid?
If so, you can tell straight away that the chloride ions can't hydrolize in water while ammonium can (and forms hydronium ions - indicating it's an acid)
Anyway, so can you confirm whether ammonium itself is capable of ionizing in water? For instance, can you have concentrated/dilute solutions of ammonium in water?

Thanks for your time

[cheese (MSW)]

We don't give answers directly on this forum.
Review your notes on conjugate acids/bases and,
Calculate the pH of 0.10 M [NH4]Cl
Hint: pKa + pKb =  pKw = ~14
Given pKb(NH3) = 4.75
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonia
Compare answer to AWK's post.    

[whylolzz]

We don't give answers directly on this forum.
Review your notes on conjugate acids/bases and,
Calculate the pH of 0.10 M [NH4]Cl
Hint: pKa + pKb =  pKw = ~14
Given pKb(NH3) = 4.75
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonia
Compare answer to AWK's post.    

This isn't my homework or anything.. It was from my exam and I was wondering whether I had got it right. I was just curious whether ammonium can ionize in water if it's already an ion, and if it can, can you have diluted/concentrated solutions of it.

[AWK]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronsted_acid