Information
Water as a polar molecule
A water molecule consists of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms. The O–H bonds form an angle of approximately 104.5°. Because oxygen attracts the bonding electrons more strongly, the oxygen side carries a negative partial charge and the hydrogen side a positive partial charge. Water is therefore a dipolar molecule.
Between neighbouring water molecules, a partially positively charged hydrogen atom attracts the partially negative oxygen side of another molecule. This intermolecular attraction is called a hydrogen bond. In liquid water, such bonds are continuously broken and formed again; in ice, an ordered network develops.