January 16, 2014

Peter Fenger
Experiment 9.1
Polar Covalent vs. Purely Covalent Compounds
I. Purpose
The purpose of this experiment is to see the electrical changes that polar covalent compounds and
purely covalent compounds make. A covalent bond is a bond in which the electrons are shared equally
between the atoms involved. A polar bond on the other hand, is a covalent bond in which the electrons
are shared unequally between the atoms involved.
II. Hypothesis
If a molecule is polar covalent then, it is electrically charged.
III. Materials/Supplies

Water from the tap or sink

Vegetable Oil
Styrofoam or paper cup
comb
A person willing to use their hair for the experiment
Pen

IV. Procedure
1. take the pen and punch a small hole into the bottom of the cup (the smaller the hole the better)
2. While holding your cup over the sink, pour some water into the cup from the glass. Make sure
the water is streaming out of the hole not just dripping.
3. When the water is pouring out of the cup in a steady stream, take the comb and vigorously
comb your hair
4. When you have combed your hair, bring the comb (bristles first) near the stream of water.
5. Repeat this experiment using vegetable oil instead of water observing what happens.
6. Clean up your mess.
V. Observation and Data
1. The first hole punch we did was good, we did not need to do another one.
2. The water streamed out in a good steady stream.
3. Someone in our class brought a metal comb and so it did not work with the first try because in
chemistry metal always messes things up. However when we used a plastic comb it finally
worked after combing someone's hair the water was finally reacting.
4. Bringing the comb near the water very close to the water but not actually touching it, caused the
water to move sideways some of the water coming closer to the comb in a bending motion other
parts of the water moving away from the comb.

January 16, 2014

Peter Fenger
5. When we repeated the experiment with oil nothing happened.

VI. Conclusion
What made the oil stream bend, but the vegetable oil not bend? The answer is that water is a polar
covalent compound, while vegetable oil is purely covalent. In a water molecule, electrons are being
shared between hydrogen atoms and the oxygen atom. The oxygen atom wins the tug of war for
electrons so it develops a partial negative charge. The hydrogen electrons have a slight electron deficit
giving them a partial positive charge. When our demonstrator combed his hair the comb became
negatively charged. So when we put the comb up close to the water the positive charge in the water
was attracted to the comb, while the negative charge in the water moved away from the comb. This is
what made the water bend: electrical attraction. The vegetable oil on the other hand, is a purely
covalent compound so it is not electrically charged and that is why nothing happened we put the comb
next to it.
Since water, a polar covalent molecule, was proven in this experiment to have an electrical charge it
proves that my hypothesis is correct.