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Due to the polar nature of the water molecule itself, other polar molecules are generally able to dissolve in water. Most nonpolar molecules are water-insoluble (hydrophobic) at room temperature. Many nonpolar organic solvents, such as turpentine, are able to dissolve nonpolar substances.
Polar solvents can be used to dissolve inorganic or ionic compounds such as salts. The conductivity of a solution depends on the solvation of its ions. Nonpolar solvents cannot solvate ions, and ions will be found as ion pairs. Hydrogen bonding among solvent and solute molecules depends on the ability of each to accept H-bonds, donate H-bonds ...
This arises from the fact that polar solvents stabilize the formation of the carbocation intermediate to a greater extent than the non-polar-solvent conditions. This is apparent in the ΔE a, ΔΔG ‡ activation. On the right is an S N 2 reaction coordinate diagram. Note the decreased ΔG ‡ activation for the non-polar-solvent reaction ...
The hydrophobic effect was found to be entropy-driven at room temperature because of the reduced mobility of water molecules in the solvation shell of the non-polar solute; however, the enthalpic component of transfer energy was found to be favorable, meaning it strengthened water-water hydrogen bonds in the solvation shell due to the reduced ...
Simply because a substance does not readily dissolve does not make it a weak electrolyte. Acetic acid (CH 3 COOH) and ammonium (NH + 4) are good examples. Acetic acid is extremely soluble in water, but most of the compound dissolves into molecules, rendering it a weak electrolyte. Weak bases and weak acids are generally weak electrolytes.
The polarity, dipole moment, polarizability and hydrogen bonding of a solvent determines what type of compounds it is able to dissolve and with what other solvents or liquid compounds it is miscible. Generally, polar solvents dissolve polar compounds best and non-polar solvents dissolve non-polar compounds best; hence "like dissolves like".
On the other hand, non-polar solutes dissolve better in non-polar solvents. Examples are hydrocarbons such as oil and grease that easily mix, while being incompatible with water. An example of the immiscibility of oil and water is a leak of petroleum from a damaged tanker, that does not dissolve in the ocean water but rather floats on the surface.
This phenomenon leads to minimum exposed surface area of non-polar molecules to the polar water molecules (typically spherical droplets), and is commonly used in biochemistry to study protein folding and other various biological phenomenon. [22] The effect is also commonly seen when mixing various oils (including cooking oil) and water.