How does Water organizes nonpolar molecules
Water
molecules always tend to form the maximum possible number of hydrogen
bonds. When nonpolar molecules such as oils, which do not form hydrogen
bonds, are placed in water, the water molecules act to exclude them. The
nonpolar molecules are forced into association with one another, thus
minimizing their disruption of the hydrogen bonding of water. In effect,
they shrink from contact with water, and for this reason they are
referred to as hydrophobic (Greek hydros, "water," and phobos,
"fearing"). In contrast, polar molecules, which readily form hydrogen
bonds with water, are said to be hydrophilic ("water-loving"). The
tendency of nonpolar molecules to aggregate in water is known as
hydrophobic exclusion. By forcing the hydrophobic portions of molecules
together, water causes these molecules to assume particular shapes. This
property can also affect the structure of proteins, DNA, and biological
membranes. In fact, the interaction of nonpolar molecules and water is
critical to living systems.
Water can form ions
The
covalent bonds of a water molecule sometimes break spontaneously. In
pure water at 25°C, only I out of every 550 mil-lion water molecules
undergoes this process. When it happens, a proton (hydrogen atom
nucleus) dissociates from the molecule. Because the dissociated proton
lacks the negatively charged electron it was sharing, its positive
charge is no longer counter-balanced, and it becomes a hydrogen ion,
H'.
The
rest of the dissociated water molecule, which has retained the shared
electron from the covalent bond, is negatively charged and forms a
hydroxide ion, OH-. This process of spontaneous ion formation is called
ionization:
At
25°C, a liter of water contains one ten-millionth (or 10-7) mole of H+
ions. A mole is defined as the weight of a sub-stance in grams that
corresponds to the atomic masses of all of the atoms in a molecule of
that substance. In the case of H+, the atomic mass is 1, and a mole of
I-P ions would weigh I gram. One mole of any substance always contains
6.02 x 1023 molecules of the substince. Therefore, the molar
concentration of hydrogen ions in pure water, represented as [HS is 10-7
moles/liter. (In reality, the hydrogen ion usually associates with
another water molecule to form a hydroniwn ion, H30+.)
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