Chemistry help?

Question

Why can water dissolve salt and not a molecular substance like wax.

Answer 1

Water can dissolve salt, but not a molecular substance like wax. The inter-molecular interaction in water is mostly strong hydrogen-bonding. The inter-molecular interaction in salt is strong Coulombic charge-charge interaction, while the inter-molecular interaction in wax is very weak London dispersion forces. To dissolve wax into water would destroy some strong hydrogen-bonding for weak London dispersion forces, thus can not happen.