What is the dipole moment of water?

1 Answer

The dipole moment of water is #"1.85 D"# or #6.17 × 10^(-30) " C·m"#.

Explanation:

The dipole moment arises because oxygen is more electronegative than hydrogen; the oxygen pulls in the shared electrons and increases the electron density around itself.

This creates an electric dipole moment vector, with the partial negative charge on the oxygen atom.

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There are two #"O-H"# bonds, so the dipole moment of the molecule is the resultant vertical vector projection of the individual diagonal dipole vectors.