Chapter 2 - Aqueous Chemistry Flashcards
what type of bonds are in a water molecule?
two covalent bonds between a central carbon and two hydrogen atoms
how many unshared electron pairs are in a water molecule?
two
electronic geometry of water? molecular geometry?
tetrahedral; bent
water polar or nonpolar? why>
polar, oxygen atom bears a partial negative charge and each hydrogen atom bears a partial positive charge; uneven distribution of charge
how do water molecules orient themselves?
partial positive hydrogen is aligned with partial negative oxygen, a hydrogen bond
how many hydrogen bonds can water participate in?
four, two hydrogen atoms to “donate” to a hydrogen bond and two pairs of unshared electrons that can “accept” a hydrogen bond
how many strong hydrogen bonds can water participate in?
two, one as acceptor and one as donor
why is water highly cohesive?
ability to form hydrogen bonds
what other properties does water have because of its cohesion?
high surface tension, why water remains a liquid at room temp, water less dense than other liquids, why ice floats
what are ionic interactions and how strong are they?
they are interactions between charged groups, intermediate in strength to covalent bonds and hydrogen bonds
how long are hydrogen bonds?
about 1.8 A
how long are covalent bonds?
1 A
what atoms are involved in hydrogen bonds?
N, O, or S attached to a H
what is a dipole-dipole interaction? how strong is it?
interaction between two strongly polar groups, weaker than hydrogen bonds
what are London dispersion forces? how strong are they?
occur between nonpolar molecules as a result of small fluctuations in their distribution of electrons that create a temporary separation of charge, molecules must be very close together; weakest interaction
what is a dielectric constant? is water’s high or low?
measure of a solvents ability to diminish the electrostatic attractions between dissolved ions; the higher the dielectric constant of the solvent, the less able the ions are to associate with each other; water has relatively high dielectric constant
what molecules are readily solubilized?
biological molecules that bear polar or ionic functional groups
what is a hydrophilic molecule
readily hydrated substances, “water-loving”
what is a hydrophobic molecule?
insoluble in water, “water-fearing”, lack polar groups
what happens when a hydrophobic substance is added to water?
does not dissolve, forms a separate phase
why is it thermodynamically unfavorable to dissolve a hydrophobic substance in water?
when a hydrophobic molecule is hydrated, it becomes surrounded by a layer of water molecules that cannot participate in normal hydrogen bonding with each other but instead must align themselves so that their polar ends are not oriented toward the nonpolar solute; constraint on structure of water represents a loss of entropy in the system
what happens when a large number of nonpolar molecules are introduced into a sample of water?
they do not disperse and become individually hydrated, but the nonpolar molecules clump together, removing themselves from contact with water, minimizes the amount of water molecules that cannot participate in hydrogen bonds because of the decreased surface area of exposed nonpolar molecules (minimizes loss of entropy)
what is the hydrophobic effect?
the exclusion of nonpolar substances from an aqueous solution
what are amphiphilic or amphipathic molecules?
have both hydrophobic and hydrophilic portions
what happens when amphipathic molecules are added to water?
polar groups of amphiphiles orient themselves toward the solvent molecules and are hydrated, while the nonpolar groups tend to aggregate due to the hydrophobic effect
what is a micelle?
a particle with a solvated surface and a hydrophobic core