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21 August, 14:40

You found that naphthalene is more soluble in petroleum ether than water. how do you account for this difference in solubility?

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  1. 21 August, 17:11
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    Naphthalene is a nonpolar molecule, therefore it is more soluble in the nonpolar solvent, petroleum ether, than the polar solvent, water.

    The general solubility principle is that "like dissolves like." Naphthalene is a nonpolar hydrocarbon, which means that it has no unequal distribution of charges within its molecular structure, giving it no partially charged regions. Petroleum ether is a nonpolar hydrocarbon also, and thus, since they are both alike in "nature" (nonpolar), then naphthalene will dissolve in the petroleum ether solvent.

    On the other hand, water is a polar molecule, which means that there is an unequal distribution of charge within the molecular structure, giving it a partial positive and a partial negative region. Being polar, it is unlike naphthalene in nature and will therefore not dissolve the said solute.
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