POLAR BONDS AND

MOLECULES
Ms. Withrow
November 10, 2008

Polar Bonds

When involved in a bond, atoms of some

elements attract the shared electrons to
a greater extent than atoms of other
elements This property is called
Electronegativity (EN)

The following chart is used to determine

the electronegativities of each atom

Based on the difference in

electronegativities of atoms we can
predict the type of bond that will form
Formula:

EN = ENA ENB

Chart:

Examples

Potassium Fluoride KF

Two Oxygen Atoms O2

EN = ENF ENK = 3.98 0.82 = 3.16

IONIC BOND

EN = ENO ENO = 3.44 3.44 = 0

NON-POLAR COVALENT

Carbon Tetrachloride CCl4

EN = ENCl ENC = 3.16 2.55 = 0.61

POLAR COVALENT

With respect to polar covalent bonds, the

differences in electronegativity tell us
about the sharing of electrons

Example: Carbon Tetrachloride (CCl4)

Cl has EN = 3.16
C has EN = 2.55
From this, we say that chlorine has stronger
attraction for electrons than carbon
Thus, electrons will spend more time
around the Cl than C

This results in a slight separation of positive

and negative charges which we call partial
charges and represent them as + or -

Example: CCl4

Chlorine with greater EN will have greater

attraction of e- and thus will have partial
negative charge Carbon with lower EN will have less attraction of
e- and thus will have partial positive charge +
Shown as
+

C-Cl

When the bond is separated into partial

positive and negative charges we call this
bond a dipole bond
We represent dipole bonds with a vector
arrow that points to the more
electronegative atom
Example CCl4
+

C-Cl

Examples

Remember to

Determine the bond type (by finding EN)

Assign the partial charges
Place the dipole moment

Copper and Oxygen

+C-O Carbon and Fluorine
+C-F -

Polar Molecules

We use our information on polar

bonds to predict whether molecules
will be polar or non-polar

We also must know our VSEPR

shapes in order to do this!!

Water H20

Determine bond type

EN = ENO ENH = 3.44 2.20 = 1.24
Thus is POLAR COVALENT
Bent shape according to V
Determine partial charges
O has higher EN and H has lower EN
Our partial charges are:
If we include the dipoles

This is where VSEPR is important! -- You

must know the shape of the molecule in
order to determine its polarity
Water has two partially
positive ends and one partially
negative end
The two dipole arrows point in the same
direction. If we add these together we
can see the molecule will have an overall
net dipole

Because the dipoles do not cancel each

other a net dipole is produced and we say

Carbon Dioxide

CO2

Determine bond type

EN = ENO ENC = 3.44 2.55 = 0.89
Thus is POLAR COVALENT

Linear shape according to VS

Determine partial charges
O

has greater EN than C

Our partial charges are:

If we include the dipoles

The dipoles created in this molecule are

pointing in opposite directions and thus
will cancel each other

This molecule has no net dipole and

therefore is said to be NON-POLAR

Hydrogen Cyanide HCN

Determine bond type

EN = ENN ENC = 3.04 2.55 = 0.49
Thus is slightly POLAR COVALENT
EN = ENC ENH = 2.55 2.20 = 0.35
Is also slightly POLAR COVALENT

Determine partial charges

N has greater EN than C N will have C has greater EN than H C will have -

When we assign the dipoles

We see that they are both pointing the

same direction
Thus they will not cancel, but will result in
an overall net dipole
This molecule is said to be POLAR

Note the Difference!

When we had a linear molecule with the

same atoms attached to the central atom
the molecule was non-polar ex. CO2

When we had a linear molecule with two

different atoms attached to the central
atom, the molecule was polar Ex. HCN

It is very important to look at the

electronegativities associated with the
atoms and not just the VSEPR shape

Sulfur Trioxide SO3

Determine bond type

EN = ENO ENS = 3.44 2.58 = 0.86
Thus is POLAR COVALENT

Determine partial charges

O

has greater EN than S

Our partial charges are:

Trigonal Planar shape according to

When we assign dipole arrows

All the dipoles are pulling

away from the central
atom
You may think that
because there are three
dipoles they will not
cancel and will result in a
polar molecule
This is not correct
however!!

Look at the horizontal and

vertical components of the
vectors (red and green arrows)
The red arrows will cancel
The green arrows can add
together
This green arrow will cancel
with the blue vector created by
the top O
Therefore all dipole vectors will
cancel in this molecule creating
no net dipole and therefore the
molecule is NON-POLAR

Similar to our linear molecule, difference will

occur when the atoms attached to the central
atom are different
We must be sure to look at the
electronegativities of each atom when
comparing the dipole vectors
Ex. CCl2O
O has higher EN than Cl and
will therefore have a greater
dipole
The two dipoles from Cl will
add together but they will still
be less than that of O
Overall net dipole will result

Ammonia NH3

Determine bond type

EN = ENN ENH = 304 2.20 = 0.84
Thus is POLAR COVALENT

Pyramidal shape according to V

Determine partial charges

N

has greater EN than H

Our partial charges are:

Assign dipole vectors

The three vectors will add

together to create an
overall net dipole

This will result in a POLAR

molecule

Carbon Tetrachloride CCl4

Determine bond type

EN = ENCl ENC = 3.16 2.55 = 0.61
Thus is POLAR COVALENT

Determine partial charges

Cl

has greater EN than C

Our partial charges are:

Tetrahedral shape according to V

When we assign dipoles

We can see that all the dipoles are
of the same magnitude because
the EN differences are all the same
There are equal amounts of dipoles
in opposite directions and thus
they will all cancel
This results in no net dipole and
therefore the molecule is NONPOLAR

Chloroform CHCl3

Determine bond type

EN = ENCl ENC = 3.16 2.55 = 0.61
Thus is POLAR COVALENT
EN = ENC ENH = 2.55 2.20 = 0.35
Thus is slightly POLAR COVALENT

Determine partial charges

Cl

has greater EN than C

C has greater EN than H
Our partial charges are:

Tetrahedral shape according to

Assign dipoles (blue arrows)

We can see that the dipoles to
Cl will all add up to create the
larger green dipole vector
This is opposite to the dipole
vector created by H-C but does
not have the same magnitude
Thus, it will not cancel and
result in a net dipole
This molecule is POLAR

Summary of Polarity of
Molecules

Linear:

When the two atoms attached to central

atom are the same the dipoles will
cancel, leaving no net dipole, and the
molecule will be Non-Polar

When the two atoms are different the

dipoles will not cancel, resulting in a net
dipole, and the molecule will be Polar

Bent:

The dipoles created from this

molecule will not cancel creating a
net dipole and the molecule will be
Polar

Pyramidal:

The dipoles created from this

molecule will not cancel creating a
net dipole and the molecule will be
Polar

Summary of Polarity of
Molecules

Trigonal Planar:

When the three atoms attached

to central atom are the same the
dipoles will cancel, leaving no net
dipole, and the molecule will be
Non-Polar

When the three atoms are

different the dipoles will not
cancel, resulting in a net dipole,
and the molecule will be Polar

Summary of Polarity of
Molecules

Tetrahedral:

When the four atoms attached to the

central atom are the same, the dipoles
will cancel, leaving no net dipole, and
the molecule will be Non-Polar

When the four atoms are different, the

dipoles will not cancel, resulting in a
net dipole, and the molecule will be
Polar

Summary of Polarity of
Molecules

Examples to Try

Determine whether the following

molecules will be polar or nonpolar

SI2
CH3F
AsI3
H 2 O2