Why are low molecular mass alcohols soluble in water?

Why are low molecular mass alcohols soluble in water?

Answer : The low molecular mass alcohols are soluble in water due to presence of intermolecular hydrogen bonding between alcohol molecules and this is possible due to the presence of polar –OH group in alcohol. Thus, solubility of alcohol decreases with increases in molecular size.

Why are lower alcohols soluble in water?

The solubility of lower alcohols is due to the existence of hydrogen bonds between water and polar -OH group of alcohol molecules. Thus they form hydrogen bonds with water molecules.

Why are lower molecular weight alcohols more soluble in water than higher molecular weight alcohols?

As the molecular weight increase, the number of alkyl groups increases and the nonpolar part increase. Thus, Lower molecular weight alcohols are more soluble in water than higher molecular weight alcohols.

Why are some alcohols soluble in water and some alcohols not soluble in water?

Alcohols are soluble in water. This is due to the hydroxyl group in the alcohol which is able to form hydrogen bons with water molecules. Alcohols with a smaller hydrocarbon chain are very soluble. As the length of the hydrocarbon chain increases, the solubility in water decreases.

Why alcohols and ethers of comparable molecular mass have different boiling points?

Answer : Alcohols and ethers of comparable molecular mass have different boiling points because of the presence of intermolecular hydrogen bonding in alcohols. There is no intermolecular hydrogen bonding in ethers and thus, ethers have low boiling point as compared to the alcohols of the same molecular mass.

Why are only some alcohols soluble in water?

Explanation: Small alcohols have attached OH groups which make the alcohols polar. The polarity of the alcohol and polarity of the water create intermolecular forces, most notably dipole-dipole forces.

Why are some alcohols more soluble in water?

Because alcohols form hydrogen bonds with water, they tend to be relatively soluble in water. The hydroxyl group is referred to as a hydrophilic (“water-loving”) group, because it forms hydrogen bonds with water and enhances the solubility of an alcohol in water.

Why are alcohols with lower molecular weight soluble in water whereas those with higher molecular weight are not?

Alcohols of four or fewer carbon atoms are soluble in water because the alcohol molecules engage in hydrogen bonding with water molecules; comparable alkane molecules cannot engage in hydrogen bonding.

Why are small alcohols readily soluble in water whereas large alcohols are much less soluble?

Small alcohols have attached OH groups which make the alcohols polar. The positive and negative dipoles in the molecules align, tugging at one another and causing the alcohol molecules to break apart from one another in the water and dissolve.

Why are longer alcohols less soluble?

This is due to the combined strength of so many hydrogen bonds forming between oxygen atoms of one alcohol molecule and the hydroxy H atoms of another. The longer the carbon chain in an alcohol is, the lower the solubility in polar solvents and the higher the solubility in nonpolar solvents.

Why is water and ethanol miscible?

Ethanol contains OH group in which the hydrogen atom is attached to an electronegative oxygen atom, due to which it is capable of forming hydrogen bonds with water molecules leading to greater solubility of ethanol in water. Both ethanol and water are polar molecules are miscible.