Home / Academics / Division
of Math & Science / Chemistry / The
Structure of Water
The Structure of Water
- Water is composed of one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms.
- According to its Lewis structure, water has two lone pars of electrons
on the oxygen.
- According to valence-bond theory, each hydrogen is connected to the
oxygen through a single sigma bond.
- According to VSPER Theory, water has sp3 hybridization
(or tetrahedralelectron domain geometry) with a bond angle of 104.5o and
a bent or V-shape.
- Water is a neutral molecule but the shared electrons are not shared
equally. The oxygen atom has a partial negative charge associated with
it and the hydrogen atoms have a partial positive charge associated
with them.
- The electrongativity difference between the oxygen atom and each
hydrogen is quite large yielding polar bonds.
- Water is a polar molecule and a large dipole moment.
- The strongest intermolecular force between molecules of water is
hydrogen-bonding.
|
