im doing an experiment on the polarity of substances. and i need to validate water as a universal substance. if water and ethanol are both polar...y iznt ethanol considered to be universal solvent too...what makes water special?
2007-03-13 18:33:06 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
WATER IS SO DAMN SPECIAL. Its beauty is its ability to very easily dissociate into ridiculously charged ions (hydroxides and protons?) which will bind with bloody well anything, yet also be rather stable molecules that don't need to break apart or hydrolyse other materials. A proton's also a helluva lot more functional that a frigging CH4 cation.
2007-03-13 18:45:00 · answer #1 · answered by Testaco 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ethanol is polar, but it is not as polar as water is, since carbon's electronegativity is closer to oxygen's than hydrogen's is. Ethanol can also not hydrogen bond as efficiently as water does, or form as good of a solvation sphere as water does due to its larger size, so there are many compounds that are not ethanol-soluble that are water-soluble.
2007-03-13 18:37:41 · answer #2 · answered by TheOnlyBeldin 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ethanol is not as polar as water. That's why water is considered universal.
2007-03-13 18:37:38 · answer #3 · answered by rb42redsuns 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋