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The answer lies in the molecular structure. The molecular structure of water is H2O, meaning that it is made up of 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom. An important fact to be noted is that water is polar, or that one side of the molecule has a greater positive charge, and the other side has a greater negative charge. In order for oxygen to bond with hydrogen to form water, the hydrogen atoms must each share one electron with the oxygen. However, the electron is not shared equally in this case. Due partially to oxygen having morepositively charged protons in its nucleus than hydrogen, it tends to cause the shared electrons to spend more time orbiting the oxygen atom than the hydrogen atoms. As a result of the electron imbalance, there is a much more negative charge surrounding the oxygen atom than the hydrogen atoms. Thus, water is a polar molecule. Oil, however, is not a polar molecule. All the electrons are shared in a sufficiently even manner for it to be considered nonpolar. In order for two liquids to be miscible, or mixable, they must both be nonpolar or both be polar. If one liquid is polar, (such as water), and the other liquid is nonpolar, (such as oil), then they will not mix, making them immiscible.
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Why does oil float in water?
The density of oil is what makes it float on water. Oil is less dense than water and does not mix or dissolve within the water. Therefore, it floats.The density of oil is what makes it float on water. Oil is less dense than water and does not mix or dissolve within the water.
Why does a drop of water placed on the surface of oil contracts to form a spherical shape?
The surface tension of the water and the fact that oil and water cannot wet each other.
How do you separate a mixture of sand salt and oil?
Pour the oil and sand in a glass of water. The sand will sink to the bottom, and the oil will float to the top of the water.
How does blob in a bottle work?
how does it work: To begin, the oil stays above the water because the oil is lighter than the water or, more specifically, less dense than water. The oil and water do not mix because of something called "intermolecular polarity." That term is fun to bring up in dinner conversation. Molecular polarity basically means that water molecules are attracted to other water molecules. They get along fine, and can loosely bond together (drops.) This is similar to magnets that are attracted to each other. Oil molecules are attracted to other oil molecules, they get along fine as well. But the structures of the two molecules do not allow them to bond together. Of course, there's a lot more fancy scientific language to describe density and molecular polarity, but maybe now you'll at least look at that vinegrette salad dessing in a whole new way. When you added the tablet piece, it sank to the bottom and started dissolving and creating a gas. As the gas bubbles rose, they took some of the colored water with them. When the blob of water reached the top, the gas escaped and down went the water. Cool, huh? By the way, you can store your "Blobs In A Bottle" with the cap on, and then anytime you want to bring it back to life, just add another tablet piece.
How do you separate water oil and iron nails?
First, use a magnet to get the iron nails out because iron is a magnetic material and will be attracted to the magnet. Now what you have left is the water and oil. Fortunately, oil is less dense than oil and it will float on top of the water. Use a separating funnel to tap the water out from the bottom and collect it in a container. You can also use a spoon to get the oil out from a container which contains the oil and water since oil floats on the surface.
What is the relationship between oil and water?
The relationship is that they do not mix. The molecules in water are attracted to each other and will not mix with the oil molecules which are also attracted to each other and therefore will not mix with the water molecules
Why cant oil and water mix?
While water often mixes with other liquids to form solutions, oil and water does not. Water molecules are strongly attracted to each other, this is the same for oil, because they are more attracted to their own molecules they just don't mix together. They separate and the oil floats above the water because it has a lower density.
did the oil dissolve in water?
Oils are hydrophobic, or “water fearing.” Instead of being attracted to water molecules, oil molecules are repelled by them. As a result, when you add oil to a cup of water the two don't mix with each other.
Why wont oil dissolve well in the gulf of Mexico?
Oil are nonpolar substances, and water is a polar substance. Because of this, water molecules are more attracted to each other than the oil, and will not break their bonds to dissolve the oil.
What are some interesting facts about oil?
Water molecules won't form a solution (are not miscible) in oil. The reason is that water molecules are polar, and oil molecules are not. Water molecules, in an environment of oil, are attracted to each other, and this polar bonding excludes the oil molecules.
Do water molecules attract nonpolar molecules such as oil?
Yes, but they attract polar molecules more strongly."Hydrophobic" molecules is a misnomer. The nonpolar molecules in question are attracted to water molecules (usually more strongly than they're attracted to each other, even), but they get "shoved out of the way" by polar "hydrophilic" molecules which are even more strongly attracted to water molecules.
Why does oil sit on top of water?
Oil is less dense than water While certainly true, and part of it, it isn't the whole story. If this were the case, there wouldn't be many of the solutions that we know and love each day (think of beer...ethanol has a density of about 0.8, water is 1...how can it be mixed?). The main component for this is that there are significantly different forces holding the water molecules to other water molecules, and oil molecules to other oil molecules. Water is very polar (has ends with unequal electron distribution, a slight charge), and oil is non-polar: all the electrons are evenly spread-out. The water molecules are attracted to each other by this separated charge, the oil molecules are attracted to each other due to the lack of separated charge, but they are not attracted to each other. That's where the density comes into it!
Why oil molecules are not attracted to water molecules in vinegar?
because the vinegar particles are not attracted to the particles of oil.
Why is water a viscous fluid?
All liquids have viscosity. The viscosity of crude oil is higher than water due to molecular adhesion forces which are forces that attract the various hydrocarbon compounds to each other. Crude oil has a very large range of viscosities. See related link.
Is water and oil an element compound or mixture?
Water and oil do not mix with each other. It is a mixture.
How does a solution of kool-aid different from a mixture of oil and water?
Kool-Aid contains sugar (or another sweetener) along with flavorings and colorings that dissolve in water. The water molecules, which tend to cling onto each other via hydrogen bonds, will actually cling to molecules of the ingredients in the Kool-Aid. After a bit of time and some stirring, the contents of the Kool-Aid package all go into solution in the water. On the other hand, oil and water do not form a solution. They will mix with agitation, but the molecules of oil and those of water don't like each other and will not be attracted. Eventually oil and water will separate. The mutual dislike of water and oil for each other was known to ancients, though they did not understand the chemistry and physics involved.
Why does oil float in water?
The density of oil is what makes it float on water. Oil is less dense than water and does not mix or dissolve within the water. Therefore, it floats.The density of oil is what makes it float on water. Oil is less dense than water and does not mix or dissolve within the water.
