Water dissociates (autoionization) to form hydrogen ions (H⁺) and hydroxide (OH⁻) ions. The protons (H⁺) hydrate as hydroxonium ions( H₃O⁺).
The Kw (the ionic product for water) at 25°C is 1·10⁻¹⁴ mol²/dm⁶ or 1·10⁻¹⁴ M². Concentration of hydrogen ions and hydroxide ions in pure water are the same.
this is because the van der waals forces or also known as induced dipole-dipole interactions increase because more electrons are present within an atom as you go down
