Question

Propanone is more soluble in water compared to propane mainly because propanone?

Answer 1

Propanone is polar, and propane is nonpolar.

Step-by-step explanation:

As we can see in the molecules below, propanone has a polar bond between Oxygen (in red) and the Carbon, because they have very different electronegativities. In the molecule of propane, there are only bonds between carbon and hydrogen, which have close electronegativities, so it's a nonpolar molecule. Water is polar too. The solubility law says that "polar dissolves polar, and nonpolar dissolves nonpolar".

It occurs because the positive pole of water (in the hydrogen) can bond with the negative pole in propanone (in oxygen) forming a hydrogen bond..

Answer 2

Propanone is more soluble in water compared to propane mainly because propanone cannot hydrogen bond with themselves but can hydrogen bond with water molecules. One of the slightly positive hydrogen atoms in a water molecule can be sufficiently attracted to one of the lone pairs on the oxygen atom of propanone. In order for propane to bond with water, the van der Waals forces must be broken and also the stronger hydrogen bonds of water molecules and it needs a great amount of energy.