[HannahE]

Hello.
My textbook says that the H atom in HCl will leave the Hcl and go to the H20
resulting in
 HCl +H₂O → H₃O + Cl
But O has a higher electronegativity than Cl, which made me assume that the pair of valance atoms will spend even more time orbiting the O atom than the Cl atom. So why would the H atom prefer the O atom to the Cl atom?
Thanks!

[Hunter2]

You said it it, its more negative so it will attracked the H⁺ more better. Oxygen will create hydrogen bridge bonds with the hydrogen.

[HannahE]

Thanks for answering!
My chem book told me that the H atom wants to leave the Cl atom because it doesn't get the electron pair for a significant portion of the time so I assumed it wanted to go to the O atom because it would get the electron pair for a larger portion of the time. Is that not correct? Does it have more to do with the strength that the O atom is attracting the H atom vs. the strength that the Cl atom is attracting the H atom?

[Irlanur]

it's not an H-atom, it's a proton!