What is a polar molecule and what is a nonpolar molecule?

1 Answer
anor277
Feb 5, 2017

A polar molecule is a molecule where there is significant charge separation with respect to the participating atoms............

Explanation:

And how does this scenario occur? Well it occurs when 2 atoms, or group of atoms, of DIFFERING electronegativity, are bound together. When hydrogen is bound to oxygen, or bound to fluorine, we could describe as #""^(delta-)F-H^(delta+)# or #""^(delta+)H-O^(delta-)-H^(delta+)#. Oxygen and fluorine are electronegative atoms, and when involved in a bond, tend to polarize electron density towards themselves. There is a resultant dipole in the molecule.

On the other hand, while #""^(delta+)CF_4^(delta-)""_# also possesses polar bonds, the vector sum of the individual bond angles is ZERO, with the result that #CX_4# is a non-polar molecule.

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