How do polar and nonpolar covalent bonds compare?
1 Answer
Polar bonds share electrons unevenly
Explanation:
When elements of varying electronegativity covalently bond, the electrons are pulled towards the more electronegative atom.
This will mean that the more electronegative side will have a partial negative charge (due to more probability of electrons) and the less electronegative side will have a partial positive charge.
Polar bonds also often contribute to a net dipole moment of a molecule. This basically means that there are partial charges that make a molecule overall polar. One example might be water: in H20, oxygen is very electronegative, and hydrogen is less so. This means that oxygen is more negative and hydrogen is more positive. This is why water is cohesive (can stick together): The positive ends stick to the negative ends.
