Polar/nonpolar [ENDORSED]

[JulissaLopez1F]

can someone review the difference between polar and nonpolar molecules?

[Kathrin Magdalani 3J]

Bonds that are partially ionic are polar. Nonpolar bonds have an equal sharing of electrons.

[Akshay_Manjarekar_3C]

Another way to look at it is if the molecule as a whole has a dipole moment. A molecule is polar if one side is more negative than the other and it is attracted to the opposite charged side of another molecule.

[Wenqian_Deng_1L]

So does that mean we have to draw the Lewis structure of the molecule to see if it has a dipole moment?

[emilie liu 3G]

Yes, it helps to draw the Lewis structure to see whether the molecule is polar. This can be done by observing the dipole movements and seeing if they cancel out in a symmetrical molecule.

[Dang Lam]

It has to do with electronegative. A nonpolar bond is a bond arises when the electronegativities of two atom are the same, aka the dipole moment = 0, or they cancels each other out. Polar bond is the opposite of that

[Michelle Steinberg2J]

Last year I learned something helpful that has stuck with me!

"SNAP"
Symmetrical
Nonpolar
Asymmetrical
Polar

This says that Symmetrical molecules (determined when you draw the Lewis Structure) are NON polar. Asymmetrical molecules are Polar. Generally this rule holds true.

[Susie Lee 2I]

In lecture, Prof. Lavelle discussed that a non-polar molecule must have zero electric dipole movement which is possible if it contains nonpolar bonds, or polar bonds with dipoles that cancel.

[Nicole Jacobs 1C]

can you always use the trick that Lavelle was saying where if water would want to bond on different locations of the molecule, then the molecule is polar for every compound?

[Tia Tomescu 2D]

Nicole, yes, that is true for polar molecules.

[Daniel Rivas 3L]

Yeah basically of there is an unequal sharing of electrons, it it polar. If there isn't, it is nonpolar.

[Jasmin Tran 1J]

Also, an example of a polar molecule would be water, H2O. The O is slightly more negative than the H, giving it a bent shape. An example of a nonpolar molecule would be carbon dioxide, CO2. It is a straight molecule with the C forming double bonds in the middle, so the charges are equally distributed.

[Phillip Winters 2F]

Also, nonpolar molecules are symmetrical while polar molecules are not symmetrical

[Yizhou Liu 3L]

A polar molecule forms when an atom of high electronegativity bonds with a less electronegative atom. Conversely, the electrons of a non-polar molecule are distributed more equally.

[Madeline Musselman 3H]

Polar has a pull in a certain direction due to electronegativity and nonpolar means that there is no pull due to a balance between elements.