Shuǐ fēnzǐ zhōng de qiǎngjī juédìng le tā de jíxìng.
The hydroxyl group in the water molecule determines its polarity.
Tips
memory
羟 (qiǎng) is a chemistry-only character coined by blending 氢 (qīng, hydrogen) and 氧 (yǎng, oxygen): hydroxyl literally is hydrogen + oxygen. Watch the tone — it's qiǎng (third tone), not qiāng.
mistakes
Frequently misread as qiāng. The CC-CEDICT entry uses qiang3 — third tone, like 抢 (qiǎng, to grab).
