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concepts
Nature 417, 491 (30 May 2002) | doi:10.1038/417491a
Hydrophobicity: Two faces of water
David Chandler1
Water and oil famously don't mix: the term hydrophobic (water-fearing) is commonly used to describe substances that, like oil, do not mix with water. Although it may look as if water repels oil, in reality the separation of oil and water in ambient conditions is not due to repulsion between water and oil molecules, but to particularly favourable hydrogen bonding between water molecules.
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