Question

Which chemical properties make a substance hydrophilic?

Answer 1

Polarity, among other things

Explanation:

The reason a substance can be dissolved in water or is hydrophilic is that of how easy it can bond with Water. Water is a highly polar molecule with `delta` positive hydrogens and a `delta` negative oxygen atom, this means that molecules containing polar groups, for example, Vitamin C or alcohols, are highly hydrophilic due to their ease of forming dipole-dipole interactions with water, because they contain highly polar `OH` groups.

This is in contrast to hydrophobic compounds, like lipids, which contain a long carbon chain with many methyl groups which are non-polar. Thus fats are hydrophobic.