Hydrophobic Effect

The hydrophobic effect is the observed tendency of nonpolar substances to aggregate in aqueous solution and exclude water molecules. The name, literally meaning "water-fearing," describes the segregation and apparent repulsion between water and nonpolar substances. The hydrophobic effect explains the separation of a mixture of oil and water into its two components, and the beading of water on nonpolar surfaces, because they fear the water molecules and force them onto each other so it beads, such as waxy leaves. At the molecular level, the hydrophobic effect is important in driving protein folding, formation of lipid bilayers and micelles, insertion of membrane proteins into the nonpolar lipid environment and protein-small molecule interactions. Substances for which this effect is observed are known as hydrophobes.