AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -When the two hydrogen atoms bond with the oxygen, they attach to the top of the molecule rather like Mickey Mouse ears. This molecular structure gives the water molecule polarity, or a lopsided electrical charge that attracts other atoms.

Detailed explanation-2: -There is no overall charge to a water molecule, but there is a slight positive charge on each hydrogen atom and a slight negative charge on the oxygen atom. Because of these charges, the slightly positive hydrogen atoms repel each other and form the unique shape.

Detailed explanation-3: -The unequal sharing of electrons gives the water molecule a slight negative charge near its oxygen atom and a slight positive charge near its hydrogen atoms. When a neutral molecule has a positive area at one end and a negative area at the other, it is a polar molecule.

Detailed explanation-4: -In a water molecule (H2O), the oxygen nucleus with +8 charges attracts electrons better than the hydrogen nucleus with its +1 charge. Hence, the oxygen atom is partially negatively charged and the hydrogen atom is partially positively charged.

Detailed explanation-5: -In agreement with our analysis using the Lewis formalism, water’s shape is angular, or bent, with an H-O-H bond angle of 104.5°. This is consistent with a roughly tetrahedral orientation of four electron domains about the central oxygen, two bonding pairs and two non-bonding “lone pairs".