Finding negative poles

[Kailyncanez3G]

When looking at molecules, what do I first need to do in order to look for the negative poles? How do you find the higher dipole moment?

[Tala Hamdan 3B]

In order to determine whether dipoles exist, you must first see whether there is a difference in electronegativity in the atoms of the molecule. If the molecule is diatomic and made up of atoms of the same element, it will nonpolar since the electronegativity difference is 0. However, if the atoms in a diatomic molecule are different, there will be a diapole moment and the more electronegative will be slightly negative (will have the "negative pole"). If you are looking at a polyatomic molecule, you must consider the differences in electronegativity while looking at the shape of the molecule. You can think of the dipole moments as vectors and this will help you determine whether they cancel out or not. If they do cancel out, the molecule will be nonpolar (even if the bonds themselves are polar) and if they do not cancel out, the molecule will be polar (can occur even if the atoms in the polyatomic molecule are the same).

Hope this helps!