Chapter 19, Problem 17CQ

How does the polar character of water molecules help to explain waters relatively large dielectric constant? (Figure 19.19)

Figure 19,19 Artist's conception of a water molecule. There is an inherent separation of charge, and so water is a polar molecule. Electrons in the molecule are attracted to the oxygen nucleus and leave an excess of positive charge near the two hydrogen nuclai. (Note that the schematic on the right is a rough illustration of the distribution of electrons in the water molecule. It does not show the actual numbers of protons and elections involved in the structure.)