Question

A waxed car will cause water droplets to bead (and likely slide off) instead of spread out into a thin film. Car wax is composed of long carbon chain (C20 to C35) esters. Explain why water behaves this way.

Car wax is a complex mixture of many compounds. For this question, assume that car wax is mostly composed of one molecule. Which of the molecules below would be a better car wax in terms of how water would interact with the car surface? Explain.

Answer 1

Solution :-

Wax is the compound which contains about 20 to 35 carbon chain. The C-C bond and C-H bonds are non polar bonds therefore the wax molecules are non polar while in contrast the water moleucles are polar so when the water is falls on the waxed car the non polar moleucles of the wax do not have any attraction forces with the polar molecules of the water therefore the water forms small beads and slide off from the surface of the car instead of of spreading and forming a thin film of water molecules.

More the number of carbons in the wax means it more non polar so it is good to be used as wax for the cars so that water can form beads and slide off from the surface of the car.