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In my experiment (Junior science fair) I submerged a magnetic chip collector holding my ferrofluid (magnetite and grape seed oil) with polypropylene beads (attracted as part of the experiment) into various other fluids to see which fluid would do the best at removing the beads. Isopropyl alcohol and vegetable oil worked the best. I've been looking into why and have been researching solubility and polarity, 'like dissolves like', but the alcohol is polar and the vegetable oil is nonpolar. Should I be considering the nonpolar beads and grapeseed oil being 'like' the vegetable oil? Isopropyl alcohol did better than vinegar which is also polar (and the acid that I hypothesized would work best), why did they work at all? Any help is appreciated, I have not had any chemistry classes and only have a basic knowledge.

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    $\begingroup$ "Remove" is an awfully broad term. What exactly happened to the beads (and fluids, for that matter)? $\endgroup$
    – Ivan Neretin
    Commented Jan 7 at 18:39
  • $\begingroup$ "attracted as part of the experiment" <- Are the beads dispersed in the ferrofluid or attached to the surface of the liquid? A guess is that there may also be interfacial or electrostatic issues at play which do not involve solubility as such (somewhat along the lines of what is suggested in the current answer) // Vinegar is a solution of acetic acid (and other stuff) in water. $\endgroup$
    – Buck Thorn ♦
    Commented Jan 8 at 11:01

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The question title is not meaningful: a mixture is not a pure substance. Each component may be more or less polar. One can measure relative permittivity (dielectric constant) of a mixture, which is based on the polar nature of the components.

That said, the amount of polarity is a matter of degree. In a sufficiently strong field, any substance can exhibit some amount of polarity. Compare the extent to which each component is polar, and to which each solvent is polar. Also consider that molecular polarity is not the only factor in solvent effectiveness.

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