If we increase the concentration of OH - ions in a solution then what happens to the concentration of H + ions ? Will it remain same or change?

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Solution

Dear Student

According to Le-Chatelier's Principle, adding more H⁺ ions to the water, would result in shifting the equilibrium towards the left.
Therefore, the water dissociation equilibrium gets disturbed through the addition of acid to the water -
H₂O $⇌$ H⁺ (aq) + OH^-(aq)

Thus, the higher the concentration of H⁺ ions in the solution, the more acidic it is and the solution become more basic, if we increase the concentration of OH^- ions in the solution.
So, any increase in the concentration of H⁺ results in the decrease of the OH^- ions, therefore, making the solution acidic, similarly, the increased concentration of OH^- ions decreases the concentration of H⁺ ions, resulting in making the solution basic, but in both the cases the water dissociation constant remains the same, that is K_w = 10^-14
Or,
K_w = [H⁺_(aq)] [OH^-_(aq)] = 10^-14

Regards

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