Question

Complete the sentences to explain whether you would expect that anions would be physically closer to the oxygen or to the hydrogens of water molecules that surround them in solution.

Answer 1

Anions would be physically closer to the hydrogen in water due to their positive polarity in water. Water is a polar molecule because the oxygen atom, due to the larger nucleus, attracts a higher share of the electron cloud of the molecule as compared to a hydrogen atom. Therefore, oxygen attains a partial negative charge while hydrogen a partial positive charge. Anions (-ve) will, therefore, be attracted to the hydrogen since opposite charges attract