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analysis of non-polar molecules without vectors
Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2018 6:55 pm
by ian_haliburton_1f
Dr. Lavelle described a way to think about non polar molecules that doesn’t require drawing vector diagrams. I remember something about interactions with an electric field, but otherwise the concept was lost on me. I would appreciate if someone could elucidate this.
Re: analysis of non-polar molecules without vectors
Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2018 8:08 pm
by Karan Thaker 2L
All I remember him saying in today's lecture was that non polar means that the electrons are bonded and set up in a way that cancels out all dipole moments.
Re: analysis of non-polar molecules without vectors
Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2018 8:30 pm
by Schuyler_Howell_4D
When there are no partial charges on any of the atoms, then the molecule will be non-polar (hence no dipole moments). The molecule can still be non-polar if the negative charges on an atom are canceled out by a positive charge on another atom (when the dipole moments are canceled out). To cancel out the charges, they have to have opposite orientation otherwise the molecule has an overall charge making it a polar molecule.