Why do polar compounds dissolve in water and non-polars compounds don ?
The general rule is like dissolves like, so polar compounds will dissolve in water (which is polar) and non-polar compounds will dissolve in butane (non-polar). The water/butane are just examples – you can replace them with anything that is polar/non-polar, respectively. Why does “Like like like?” The attractive dipole-dipole forces between polar substances are stronger than the dipole-induced dipole attractions possible between polar and non-polar substances. Since water is a polar substance, polar and ionic substances are hydrophilic (“water-loving”). Non-polar substances are left to interact primarily with themselves and with other non-polar substances. Since they cannot interact as strongly with water as strongly as water interacts with itself, non-polar substances are hydrophobic (“water-fearing”). When mixed, polar and non-polar materials tend to form separate phases with minimal surface area between them. (Surfaces are often curved or spherical because a sphere encloses the larg
