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Which of the following pure liquids can exhibit hydrogen bonds?

a) CH₃OH
b) CCl₄
c) C₂H₅OH
d) CH₂Cl₂

1 Answer

3 votes

Final answer:

Methanol (CH₃OH) and Ethanol (C₂H₅OH) can exhibit hydrogen bonds because both have hydrogens bonded to highly electronegative oxygen atoms. Carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) and Dichloromethane (CH₂Cl₂) cannot form hydrogen bonds as they lack the necessary -OH group.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student has asked which pure liquids can exhibit hydrogen bonds among CH₃OH, CCl₄, C₂H₅OH, and CH₂Cl₂. Hydrogen bonding occurs when there is a hydrogen atom bonded to a highly electronegative atom such as oxygen, fluorine, or nitrogen. These bonds result in the existence of a slight positive charge on hydrogen which can attract the lone pair electrons of electronegative atoms on other molecules, forming a hydrogen bond.

a) CH₃OH (Methanol) and c) C₂H₅OH (Ethanol) both have -OH groups and thus have hydrogens bonded to oxygen, making them capable of forming hydrogen bonds. On the other hand, b) CCl₄ (Carbon tetrachloride) and d) CH₂Cl₂ (Dichloromethane) do not contain hydrogen atoms bonded to highly electronegative atoms, and therefore cannot exhibit hydrogen bonding. Thus, the correct answers are a) CH₃OH and c) C₂H₅OH for exhibiting hydrogen bonds.

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