Question

What is the overall charge on a molecule of water?

Answer 1

Hint: To solve the given question, we should have information about water molecules and how to calculate the charge on a molecule. Water is a polar molecule that is generally in a liquid state and transparent in nature. It is a tasteless and odorless liquid. Water exists in all three states, solid, liquid, and gases. It is considered a universal solvent with a density of about $ 1000Kg/m^3 $ . It contains a triple point which is the temperature at which all three states of water co-exist. A charge is a physical quantity that is acquired by any substance due to the loss or gain of electrons. The unit of electric charge is Coulomb ( $ C $ ). All molecules generally have a net charge of zero.

Complete step by step solution:
Step-1 :
A molecule is electrically neutral or not can be determined at the subatomic level, that is from the number of electrons and protons present in the molecule.
Step-2 :
Here, the molecular formula of water contains two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. So, total number of protons will be $ 1+1+8 = 10 $ and total number of electrons will be $ 1+1+8 = 10 $ . Since protons contain a positive charge and electrons contain a negative charge, they cancel each other making the molecule of water electrically neutral.

Note :
A polar molecule can also have a zero net charge as polarization simply refers to the change in position of electrons from the center between the bond. The law of conservation of electric charge states that the total charge before is equal to the total charge after the electron transfer in an isolated system.
While calculating the overall charge, one should remember to make a simple structure of the molecule and not take formal charge.