0

I don't understand why the mass of a molecule make it attract more to other polar molecules.

user2330624
  • 235
  • 2
  • 5
  • 6
  • 1
    Hi, take a look to the question posted by Philipp if this doesn't clear your doubts make one more specific or clarify what you mean! :-) – G M May 01 '14 at 07:00

1 Answers1

0

Increasing mass increases the availability for molecules to attract through London dispersion forces (induced dipole-dipole). A longer chain has more atoms and hence more electrons and therefore experiences stronger bonding.

When you say 'polar' I assume you mean permenant dipole-dipole and hydrogen bonding which is actually not affected by the 'mass' or length of a carbon chain in a molecule. However if you take ethanol and pentanol as an example they both have hydrogen intermolecular bonding on account of the -OH group but pentanol also experiences greater London dispersion forces than ethanol which results in its significantly higher melting and boiling points.

So to recap increase mass is not a direct causal link to charge. It is in fact more mass meaning more atoms meaning more electrons meaning induced dipoles leading to greater intermolecular forces. I hope that's clear (:

MY2K
  • 359
  • 2
  • 13