Question

During an oil spill, oil coats the surface of the water, endangering sea life. Why doesn’t oil dissolve in ocean water? A)The liquids are at different temperatures. B)Oil and water are both nonpolar. C)Oil and water are both polar. D)Oil is nonpolar, and water is polar.

Answer 1

D is the answer.........

Answer 2

Answer: Option (D) is the correct answer.

Explanation:

It is known that polar solutes are soluble in polar solvents only whereas non-polar solutes are soluble in non-polar solvents.

For example, water is a polar solvent and it can dissolve polar solutes like NaCl, potassium permanganate etc. On the other hand, alcohol, oil etc are non-polar in nature.

So, when oil spills in a sea then it floats on the surface of water because being non-polar in nature oil is not able to dissolve in a polar solvent (water).

Thus, we can conclude that oil doesn’t dissolve in ocean water because oil is non-polar, and water is polar.