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Why oil do not dissolve in water?

Updated: 8/9/2023
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Wiki User

12y ago

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oil typically comprises of long chained hydrocarbon molecules (hydrocarbons are substances made entirely from hydrogen and carbon). these hydrocarbon chains are hydrophobic, that is they are imiscible with water, they 'don't like' coming into contact with water. Hence, when oil is added to water, (or vice versa) two distinctive phases are observed. In addition to this oil and water are immiscible because oil molecules are nonpolar and water molecules are polar. Whether a solute dissolves or not can be answered by the statement "like dissolves like".That is, if a solute and solvent are both polar (or both nonpolar), then the solute will disolve.

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15y ago
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15y ago

Scientific Explanation: Oil does not dissolve in water because oil is a lipid and lipids make up the cell's membrane and since our body is 3/4 water, the cells wont survive if their membrane dissolves.

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13y ago

because oil is already a liquid and liquid can't dissolve in another liquid

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Not true. Liquids dissolve in other liquids all the time. Try putting milk in water; the milk will easily dissolve in the water.

The reason oil doesn't dissolve in water is that some molecules are polar--the charges in them are out at the ends, like a magnet has its poles--and some are not. Water is a polar molecule; oil is a nonpolar one. Nonpolar liquids can only dissolve in nonpolar ones, and polar liquids can only dissolve in polar ones.

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12y ago

The general rule here is like dissolves like. Water is a polar solvent, and oil is a nonpolar solvent. Thus because oil and water are not the same kind of solvents, they are immiscible, that is, they cannot dissolve in each other.

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15y ago

because one is polar and the other one isn't so they won't mix with each other.

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11y ago

Because oil molecules are non-polar.

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Q: Why oil do not dissolve in water?
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