As a chemical expert with a deep understanding of solubility principles, I'd like to address the question of methanol's solubility in hexane. Solubility is a fundamental concept in chemistry that is governed by the principle "like dissolves like." This principle suggests that polar molecules tend to dissolve in polar solvents, while nonpolar molecules dissolve in nonpolar solvents.

Methanol, CH3OH, is a polar molecule due to the presence of the hydroxyl group (-OH), which creates a dipole moment. This polarity allows methanol to interact with water, another polar solvent, through hydrogen bonding. Water molecules can form hydrogen bonds with the hydrogen atom of the hydroxyl group in methanol, facilitating its dissolution.

On the other hand, hexane, C6H14, is a nonpolar molecule. It lacks any significant dipole moment because the electronegativity difference between carbon and hydrogen is minimal, and the molecule's symmetrical structure causes any small dipole moments to cancel out. As a result, hexane does not interact well with polar molecules like methanol, and thus, methanol is not soluble in hexane.

The statement that methanol is "only slightly dissolved in hexane" is misleading. In reality, the solubility of methanol in hexane is extremely low due to the lack of favorable interactions between the two molecules. Methanol does not form ions in solution; it remains as molecules that are too polar to be accommodated by the nonpolar hexane environment.

In summary, methanol is not soluble in hexane because of the fundamental differences in their molecular polarities. The solubility of a substance in a given solvent is determined by the ability of the solute and solvent molecules to interact with each other, and in this case, the interactions are not favorable.

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Methanol, a clear, colorless liquid, dissolved in water but only slightly dissolved in hexane. Again this molecule is predominately polar so our modified law is supported. Please note that methanol dissolves but does not form ions in solution. ... This molecule is polar and will dissolve in water, but not hexane.Feb 8, 2008read more >>