Which statement is true about the electrons in each polar bond of a water molecule? they are more attracted by the oxygen atom than by the hydrogen atom. they are more attracted by the hydrogen atom than by the oxygen atom. they are equally attracted by the hydrogen and oxygen atoms. they are equally repelled by the hydrogen and oxygen atoms.

Question

Bruce Blevins

Biology

19 June, 12:49

Which statement is true about the electrons in each polar bond of a water molecule? they are more attracted by the oxygen atom than by the hydrogen atom. they are more attracted by the hydrogen atom than by the oxygen atom. they are equally attracted by the hydrogen and oxygen atoms. they are equally repelled by the hydrogen and oxygen atoms.

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Answers (2)

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Katherine Villarreal · Answer 1

The answer is option A. The water molecule is neutral, it has 10 protons and 10 neutrons. The oxygen and hydrogen atoms in water molecules share electrons by covalent bonding, but the sharing is not equal. The oxygen atoms attract electrons more strongly than the hydrogen atoms. This unequal sharing of electrons is responsible for the polarity of water molecule.

Alf · Answer 2

The first option is the right one. Electrons are more attracted by the oxygen atom than by the hydrogen atom.

You can always predict this behavior by looking at a property of the atoms called electronegativity.

Electronegativity accounts for the trend of an atom to atract electrons.

Oxygen is considerably more electronegative than hydrogen (you can search this information on a table of electronetativities). Then the electrons (the electronic density to be more precise) will be attracted with more force by the oxygen atom than by the hydrogens. This is the cause of the so called hydrogen bond.