Question #e9eb6

Question

2259 views around the world

You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License

Answer 1 · 2017-09-19T00:45:58

Diborane is nonpolar because it is a symmetrical molecule.

The structure of diborane is

Diborane

Two of the #"H"# atoms act as bridges between the #"B"# atoms.

Theoretical calculations show that the partial charges on each atom are:

Thus, there are fairly large #"B-H"# bond dipoles.

However, the diborane molecule is perfectly symmetrical.

Every #"B-H"# bond dipole that points in one direction has a counterpart that points in exactly the opposite direction.

Thus, all bond dipoles cancel and diborane is a nonpolar molecule.