Understanding Water's Unique Cohesion: Why is Water Attracted to Itself?

Discover why water is attracted to itself due to hydrogen bonding, leading to its unique properties like cohesion and high surface tension.

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Water is attracted to itself due to hydrogen bonding. Each water molecule has a slight positive charge on the hydrogen atoms and a slight negative charge on the oxygen atom. This causes hydrogen bonds to form between the molecules, leading to high cohesion. This is why water droplets form and why it has a high surface tension.

FAQs & Answers

  1. What causes water molecules to attract to each other? Water molecules are attracted to each other due to hydrogen bonding, which occurs because of the polar nature of water.
  2. What is surface tension in water? Surface tension is a property of water that allows it to resist external force, primarily due to the cohesive hydrogen bonds between water molecules.
  3. How does hydrogen bonding affect water's behavior? Hydrogen bonding allows water to have unique behaviors, such as high cohesion and surface tension, which are crucial for various ecological processes.
  4. Why is water considered a polar molecule? Water is considered a polar molecule because it has a slight charge difference; the oxygen end is slightly negative while the hydrogen ends are slightly positive.

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