Which sentence best explains the high melting point, boiling point, and surface tension of water? a. the hydrogen atom on each water molecule is strongly attracted to the hydrogen atoms on nearby molecules. b. ions dissolved in the water cause nearby molecules to become temporarily polar. c. the water molecules are connected to each other with covalent bonds. d. water molecules that have lost electrons attract the water molecules that have gained electrons. e. the negative side of each water molecule is attracted to the positive sides of nearby molecules.

The sentence which best explains the high melting point, boiling point and surface tension of water is (E) “The negative side of each water molecule is attracted to the positive sides of nearby molecules.”

E

Explanation

The high melting point, boiling point and surface tension of water is because water is a polar molecule.

In polar molecules, the elements which combine have the electronegativity < 1.7.

So for this reason, the shared electrons in polar molecules will not be shared equally among the two elements.

The shared electron will be attracted towards the element which is more electronegative among them.

So an integral charge is not attained by the ions in the polar molecules but they will attain partial charges.

This means some of the region of the electronegative element will be behaving like negative ion while the other region of the electronegative element will be behaving like a positive ion.

The same case occurs for electropositive element also.  

Thus the negative side of  each water molecule leading to formation of bonding.

This leads to polar nature of water molecules which is the reason behind the high melting point, boiling point and surface tension of water.

Answer-   The correct option among all five choices would be option E.

Explanation- The surface tension or the boiling point or the melting point of any fluid or liquid depends on the cohesive forces present between the molecules.

In case of water Cohesive force between molecules is strong because of the positive force of one molecule attracting the negative force of another  molecule which results in  water becoming strongly cohesive thereby resulting in high boiling Point high melting point and surface tension.