Water and Oil

@eseomame (1146)
United States
February 7, 2008 3:42am CST
Water and Oil fail to agree. Who do you think is at fault and give your reasons why.
2 responses
@FreakQD (867)
• India
14 Feb 08
Water and Oil will never mix and its due to the reason mentioned below. The water molecule is made up of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Due to the ability of the oxygen atom to pull the hydrogen electrons towards itself, it carries a negative charge. As a result, the hydrogen atoms carry a more positive charge. The charges of these two molecules allow them to make weak bonds with certain particles, like NaCl. NaCl dissociates into a Na+ which is attracted to the negative oxygen atoms of the water molecules and hangs out there, and the Cl- which is attracted to the positive hydrogen atoms in the water molecules and hangs out with them. Likewise, molecules which have lots of charges on them are termed hydrophillic, or "water loving." They interact well with the charges on water molecules. Unlike the water molecule, oil is made up of long chains of carbon atoms (usually 8 Carbon atoms) which do not carry an electric charge. These long chains without a charge are called hydrophobic - or "afraid of water." Because they do not have a charge, there is no attraction between the charges on the water molecule and the long carbon chains and can't hang out with the water molecules. That is why oil does not mix with water. It is because it cannot form any bonds with water.
• Pakistan
9 Feb 08
Water and oil both are liquids but they can not mix in each other. They have different nature hence they fail to agree with each other. Fault is in their properties of difference. But it is also not fault, it is also considered as qualities of each. They should not agree. This is demand and need of the nature so they both are obeying the natural law.