It is incorrect to present the value of 15.7 for the pKa of water, yet this value has entered the fields of organic chemistry and biochemistry. The proposed value of 1.8 x 10-16 for the Ka of water ca...It is incorrect to present the value of 15.7 for the pKa of water, yet this value has entered the fields of organic chemistry and biochemistry. The proposed value of 1.8 x 10-16 for the Ka of water cannot be justified with thermodynamic data, nor are there any experimental data to support this value. In fact, 1.8 x 10-16 is a hypothetical value that was arrived at using specious arguments to justify an incorrect assumption that the relative strengths of acids were unaffected by changing solvent.
