Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 exam•Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
The hydrophobic part refers to a region of a molecule that does not have an affinity for water. These parts are typically non-polar and prefer to interact with other non-polar substances.
Polarity refers to the distribution of electric charge in a molecule. Polar molecules have uneven charges across their structure due to differences in electronegativity between bonded atoms.