water molecule
Water consists of molecules formed by two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Oxygen has a higher electronegativity than hydrogen at 2.1 on the Pauling scale with 3.5. The water molecule has thereby pronounced partial charges, with a negative polarity on the side of the oxygen and a positive on the side of the two hydrogen atoms. The result is a dipole whose dipole moment in the gas phase is 1.84 Debye. When water acts as a ligand in a complex bond, water is a monodentate ligand. Geometrically, the water molecule is angled, with the two hydrogen atoms and the two pairs of electrons directed into the corners of an imaginary tetrahedron. The angle subtended by the two O-H bonds is 104.45 °. It deviates from the ideal tetrahedral angle (~ 109.47 °) due to the increased space requirement of the lone pairs of electrons. The bond length of the O-H bonds is 95.84 pm each. Because water molecules are dipoles, they have pronounced intermolecular attractive forces and can assemble i...