Dipole moments

[Ghadir Seder 1G]

When a molecule has "dipole moments" is that referring to the fact that one atom is more electronegative than the other thus leading the electrons to attract to the more electronegative atom? When drawing these structures, do the arrows represent this idea? Or do they represent something else?

[Christine Honda 2I]

Yes, dipole moments is referring to the fact that one atom is more electronegative. The larger the difference in electronegativity, the larger the dipole moment. It is conventional to draw a dipole moment arrow from positive to negative.

[Ada Chung 1C]

Yes, you are correct think about it in terms of the electron cloud and the polarizability of the molecule.

[JohnWalkiewicz2J]

Yes, typically a molecule will have dipole moments if the electronegativity diffence between the two atoms are between 0.4-1.7. The arrows illustrate the direction in which the dipole moments occur. For instance, in a H-O bond, the arrow will be pointing towards the oxygen atom as it is more electronegative and is partially negative. Hope this helps!