Textbook 2E #27c

[Emma Strassner 1J]

Predict whether each of the following molecules is likely to be polar or nonpolar:
(c) CHCl3
(trichloromethane, also known as chloroform, a common organic solvent and once used as an anesthetic).

Why exactly is this molecule polar?

[Brett Lieuallen 2A]

I believe this molecule is polar because the three Cl atoms have a higher electronegativity than H. As a result the electrons spend more time around the Cl atoms. This creates a negative charge on the Cl dense end of the molecule and a positive charge on the H end of the molecule.

[Jessie Hsu 1C]

The C-Cl bond is polar resulting in a dipole on all three C-Cl bonds. CHCl3 has a tetrahedral shape, so having 3 polar bonds and 1 nonpolar bond doesn't allow the dipoles to cancel, resulting in an overall polar molecule.

[Jiapeng Han 1C]

C-Cl bond is polar while C-H bond is non-polar. As a result, the dipoles can't cancel out.

[Sejal Parsi 3K]

Hi! Like they said above, the C-Cl bond is polar while the C-H bond is non-polar, so the dipoles won’t cancel out.

[Earl Garrovillo 2L]

The difference in electronegativity between C and Cl would result in three of the bonds in CHCl3 to be polar. The C-H bond is also slightly polar but it's neither as strong as C-Cl or as numerous. Because of the shape of CHCl3 (tetrahedral if I'm not mistaken), then the electron density of the molecule would be towards the 3 C-Cl bonds which makes the molecule polar.

[Emma Strassner 1J]

That makes sense, thank you!