01-24-2009, 09:36 PM
freeradical wrote:
Sorry, but no.
What happens with water is that a small number of water molecules dissociate into hydronium and hydroxide ions. There is nothing "magical" about a ph of 7. It is simply a reflection of the fact that there are exactly the same number of hydronium ions as there are hydroxide ions in a sample of water. This is why pure water conducts electricity.
Copper does not react with water under any circumstances. Copper can only displace hydrogen from acid.
Look into something called the "activity series"...
In fact, pure water is an extremely POOR conductor of electricity - to the point of being considered a non-conductor. The ion concentration (ten to the minus seventh moles of hydronium ion per liter) is far too low to do any significant conduction.
Furthermore, if you re-check the activity series, you will see that copper is well below hydrogen and will not displace it from an acid. (except for the "oxidizing acids" like nitric acid where a more complex reaction occurs).