Ammonium hydroxide is commonly advertised as an ingredient in some window cleaners. Rank the following in order of decreasing concentrations in these solutions:

Question

Ammonium hydroxide is commonly advertised as an ingredient in some window cleaners. Rank the following in order of decreasing concentrations in these solutions:
NH4OH, NH4+, OH-, NH3.
Explain your reasoning. (Note that kb for ammonia = 1.8 x 10^-5.

So does an unionized ion have a higher concentration?

Is the answer:
NH4OH > NH3> NH4+>OH-  ?

DrBob222 · Answer

I'm not sure how to answer this question. Technically there is no such compound as NH4OH and I hope your prof is teaching you that. Based on that being zero, then
NH3 > NH4^+ = OH^- > NH4OH = 0
What this should tell you is that the the NH3 gas dissolves in the solvent and when it ionizes (it's a weak base--look at the Kb) it produes small amount of NH4^+ and an equal amount of OH^-. Most of the NH3 stays as NH3 gas dissolved in the solvent.