Like Dissolves Like

Why oil and water don’t mix

An interactive lesson with 6 steps, about 5 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• Like dissolves like: polar with polar, non-polar with non-polar.
• Long non-polar tails make molecules less soluble in water.
• Soap bridges the two with a polar head and a greasy tail.

Steps

1. Swapping partners
2. Stain removal
3. A tug of war inside one molecule
4. Soap: both at once
5. Water takes a crystal apart
6. Will it dissolve in water?