Illustrate water is a polar or a non-polar molecule

Question

Illustrate water is a polar or a non-polar molecule? What is the effect of that characteristic for the function of water as a solvent?

Answer 1

Water is made up of two atoms of hydrogen joined by covalent bond with one central atom of oxygen forming an angular spatial structure. Hydrogen atoms “lend” electrons to the oxygen and as a result such atom becomes more negative whereas the hydrogen becomes more positive. The spatial geometry of the water molecule forms it a polar molecule, with positive and negative poles.

Water is a superb solvent for polar substances since the electrical activity (that is, attraction and repulsion) of its poles aids the separation and the mixing of such substances, giving them more movement and therefore raising the number of molecular collisions and the speed of chemical reactions. On other hand, water is not good as a solvent for non-polar substances. Polarity is one of the properties of water.