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Why do we say that the equilibrium constant for the reaction H2O <=> H + OH is dimensionless?
Please explain why, thank you.
2 Answers
- DavidBLv 73 years ago
It is not dimensionless. Most, not all, equilibrium constants have units but we don't write them with units because they vary so much.
- hcbiochemLv 73 years ago
All equilibirum constants are dimensionless. While we normally write them with concentrations of products and reactants, in actually, the values that are used are something called "activities" rather than concentrations. The use of activities rather than concentrations makes the quantities in the calculation of Keq dimensionless. Activities are often close to concentrations, and so using concentrations in place of activities is a fairly reasonable substitution.
