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How is a water molecule arranged from hydrogen and oxygen atoms?

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water rapids, Niagara Falls, Canada — water Water is the most plentiful compound on Earth and is essential to life. Although water molecules are simple in structure (H₂O), the physical and chemical properties of water are extraordinarily complicated.

A water molecule consists of two hydrogen atoms each linked by a single chemical bond to one oxygen atom.1

Rather than being linear, the water molecule is bent, with the two hydrogen atoms attached to the oxygen atom at an angle of 104.5°. This angular shape is critical because it prevents the bond dipole moments from canceling each other out, making the molecule polar.12

Because oxygen has a higher electronegativity than hydrogen, it attracts the shared electrons more strongly. This results in the oxygen atom bearing a partial negative charge ( $δ -$ ), while the hydrogen atoms carry a partial positive charge ( $δ +$ ). The O–H bond length is 95.7 picometres. This polarity and the molecule's bent structure are fundamental to water's unique physical and chemical properties, including its ability to form hydrogen bonds with adjacent molecules.12