Chemical polarity
“Polar molecule” and “Nonpolar” redirect here. For other
uses of the term “Polar”, see Polar.
In chemistry, polarity is a separation of electric charge
A water molecule, a commonly used example of polarity. Two
charges are present with a negative charge in the middle (red
shade), and a positive charge at the ends (blue shade).
leading to a molecule or its chemical groups having an
electric dipole or multipole moment.
Polar molecules must contain polar bonds due to a differ- These dipoles within molecules can interact with dipoles
ence in electronegativity between the bonded atoms. A in other molecules, creating dipole-dipole intermolecular
polar molecule with two or more polar bonds must have forces.
an asymmetric geometry so that the bond dipoles do not
cancel each other.
Polar molecules interact through dipole–dipole
intermolecular forces and hydrogen bonds. Polarity
underlies a number of physical properties including
surface tension, solubility, and melting and boiling
points.
1
1 Polarity of bonds
a molecule of hydrogen fluoride (HF), the more
electronegative atom (fluoride) is shown in yellow. Be-
cause the electrons spend more time by the fluorine atom
in the H−F bond, the red represents partially negatively
charged regions, while blue represents partially positively
charged regions.
Not all atoms attract electrons with the same force. The
amount of “pull” an atom exerts on its electrons is called
its electronegativity. Atoms with high electronegativities
– such as fluorine, oxygen and nitrogen – exert a greater
pull on electrons than atoms with lower electronegativi-
ties. In a bond, this leads to unequal sharing of electrons
between the atoms, as electrons will be drawn closer to
the atom with the higher electronegativity.
Because electrons have a negative charge, the unequal
sharing of electrons within a bond leads to the formation
of an electric dipole: a separation of positive and nega-
tive electric charge. Because the amount of charge sepa-
rated in such dipoles is usually smaller than a fundamental
charge, they are called partial charges, denoted as δ+
(delta plus) and δ− (delta minus). These symbols were
introduced by Christopher Kelk Ingold and Edith Hilda
Ingold in 1926.[1][2] The bond dipole moment is calcu-
lated by multiplying the amount of charge separated and
the distance between the charges.
1.1 Classification
Bonds can fall between one of two extremes – being com-
pletely nonpolar or completely polar. A completely non-
polar bond occurs when the electronegativities are iden-
2 2 POLARITY OF MOLECULES

tical and therefore possess a difference of zero. A com-

pletely polar bond is more correctly called an ionic bond,
and occurs when the difference between electronegativi-
ties is large enough that one atom actually takes an elec-
tron from the other. The terms “polar” and “nonpolar” are
usually applied to covalent bonds, that is, bonds where the
polarity is not complete. To determine the polarity of a
covalent bond using numerical means, the difference be-
tween the electronegativity of the atoms is used.
Bond polarity is typically divided into three groups that
are loosely based on the difference in electronegativity
between the two bonded atoms. According to the Pauling
scale:

• Nonpolar bonds generally occur when the difference

in electronegativity between the two atoms is less The water molecule is made up of oxygen and hydrogen, with
than 0.5 respective electronegativities of 3.44 and 2.20. The dipoles from
each of the two bonds (red arrows) add together to make the
• Polar bonds generally occur when the difference in overall molecule polar.
electronegativity between the two atoms is roughly
between 0.5 and 2.0
negative charges) from polar bonds arranged asymmet-
• Ionic bonds generally occur when the difference in rically. Water (H2 O) is an example of a polar molecule
electronegativity between the two atoms is greater since it has a slight positive charge on one side and a slight
than 2.0 negative charge on the other. The dipoles do not cancel
out resulting in a net dipole. Due to the polar nature of
Pauling based this classification scheme on the partial the water molecule itself, polar molecules are generally
ionic character of a bond, which is an approximate func- able to dissolve in water. Other examples include sugars
tion of the difference in electronegativity between the two (like sucrose), which have many polar oxygen–hydrogen
bonded atoms. He estimated that a difference of 1.7 cor- (−OH) groups and are overall highly polar.
responds to 50% ionic character, so that a greater dif- If the bond dipole moments of the molecule do not cancel,
ference corresponds to a bond which is predominantly the molecule is polar. For example, the water molecule
ionic.[3] (H2 O) contains two polar O−H bonds in a bent (nonlin-
ear) geometry. The bond dipole moments do not cancel,
so that the molecule forms a molecular dipole with its neg-
2 Polarity of molecules ative pole at the oxygen and its positive pole midway be-
tween the two hydrogen atoms. In the figure each bond
See also dipole § Molecular dipoles. joins the central O atom with a negative charge (red) to
an H atom with a positive charge (blue).
While the molecules can be described as “polar covalent”, The hydrogen fluoride, HF, molecule is polar by virtue
“nonpolar covalent”, or “ionic”, this is often a relative of polar covalent bonds – in the covalent bond electrons
term, with one molecule simply being more polar or more are displaced toward the more electronegative fluorine
nonpolar than another. However, the following proper- atom. Ammonia, NH3 , molecule the three N−H bonds
ties are typical of such molecules. have only a slight polarity (toward the more electronega-
tive nitrogen atom). The molecule has two lone electrons
A molecule is composed of one or more chemical
in an orbital, that points towards the fourth apex of the ap-
bonds between molecular orbitals of different atoms. A
proximate tetrahedron, (VSEPR). This orbital is not par-
molecule may be polar either as a result of polar bonds
ticipating in covalent bonding; it is electron-rich, which
due to differences in electronegativity as described above,
results in a powerful dipole across the whole ammonia
or as a result of an asymmetric arrangement of nonpolar
molecule.
covalent bonds and non-bonding pairs of electrons known
as a full molecular orbital. In ozone (O3 ) molecules, the two O−O bonds are non-
polar (there is no electronegativity difference between
atoms of the same element). However, the distribution
2.1 Polar molecules of other electrons is uneven – since the central atom has
to share electrons with two other atoms, but each of the
A polar molecule has a net dipole as a result of the op- outer atoms has to share electrons with only one other
posing charges (i.e. having partial positive and partial atom, the central atom is more deprived of electrons than
2.2 Nonpolar molecules 3

In a molecule of boron trifluoride, the trigonal planar arrange-

ment of three polar bonds results in no overall dipole.
The ammonia molecule, NH3 , polar as a result of its molecu-
lar geometry. The red represents partially negatively charged re-
gions.

Resonance Lewis structures of the ozone molecule

the others (the central atom has a formal charge of +1,

while the outer atoms each have a formal charge of − 1 ⁄2 ).
Since the molecule has a bent geometry, the result is a
dipole across the whole ozone molecule.
When comparing a polar and nonpolar molecule with
similar molar masses, the polar molecule in general has
a higher boiling point, because the dipole–dipole inter- Carbon dioxide has two polar C-O bonds in a linear geometry.
action between polar molecules results in stronger inter-
molecular attractions. One common form of polar inter-
action is the hydrogen bond, which is also known as the
H-bond. For example, water forms H-bonds and has a geometry of CO2 is linear so that the two bond dipole
molar mass M = 18 and a boiling point of +100 °C, com- moments cancel and there is no net molecular dipole mo-
pared to nonpolar methane with M = 16 and a boiling ment; the molecule is nonpolar.
point of –161 °C.
Examples of household nonpolar compounds include
fats, oil, and petrol/gasoline. Therefore, most nonpo-
2.2 Nonpolar molecules lar molecules are water-insoluble (hydrophobic) at room
temperature. Many nonpolar organic solvents, such as
A molecule may be nonpolar either when there is an equal turpentine, are able to dissolve polar substances.
sharing of electrons between the two atoms of a diatomic In the methane molecule (CH ) the four C−H bonds are
4
molecule or because of the symmetrical arrangement of arranged tetrahedrally around the carbon atom. Each
polar bonds in a more complex molecule. For example, bond has polarity (though not very strong). However, the
boron trifluoride (BF3 ) has a trigonal planar arrangement bonds are arranged symmetrically so there is no overall
of three polar bonds at 120°. This results in no overall dipole in the molecule. The diatomic oxygen molecule
dipole in the molecule. (O ) does not have polarity in the covalent bond because
2
Not every molecule with polar bonds is a polar molecule. of equal electronegativity, hence there is no polarity in
Carbon dioxide (CO2 ) has two polar C=O bonds, but the the molecule.
4 4 SEE ALSO

• Phospholipids are effective

natural surfactants that have important biological
functions

• Cross section view of the struc-

tures that can be formed by phospholipids. They
can form a micelle and are a vital in forming cell
membranes

In methane, the bonds are arranged symmetrically (in a tetrahe-

dral arrangement) so there is no overall dipole. 3 Predicting molecule polarity
Determining the point group is a useful way to predict
2.3 Amphiphilic molecules polarity of a molecule. In general, a molecule will not
possess dipole moment, if the individual bond dipole mo-
Large molecules that have one end with polar groups at- ments of the molecule cancel each other out. This is
tached and another end with nonpolar groups are de- because dipole moments are euclidean vector quantities
scribed as amphiphiles or amphiphilic molecules. They with magnitude and direction, and a two equal vectors
are good surfactants and can aid in the formation of sta- who oppose each other will cancel out.
ble emulsions, or blends, of water and fats. Surfactants Any molecule with an centre of inversion (“i”) or a hor-
reduce the interfacial tension between oil and water by izontal mirror plane ("σ ") will not possess dipole mo-
adsorbing at the liquid–liquid interface. ments. Likewise, a molecule with more than one Cn
axis will not possess dipole moment because dipole mo-
ments cannot lie in more than one dimension. As a conse-
quence of that constraint, all molecules with D symmetry
(Schönflies notation) will, therefore, not have dipole mo-
• This amphiphilic molecule
ment because, by definition, D point groups have two or
has several polar groups (hydrophilic, water-
multiple Cn axis.
loving) on the right side and a long nonpolar chain
(lipophilic, fat-loving) at the left side. This gives it Since C1 , C ,C∞ Cn and Cnᵥ point groups do not have a
surfactant properties centre of inversion, horizontal mirror planes or multiple
Cn axis, molecules in one of those point groups will have
dipole moment.

Hydrophilic head

4 See also
Aqueous
solution

• Polar point group

Hydrophobic tail

• A micelle – the lipophilic • Bond dipole moment

ends of the surfactant molecules dissolve in the
oil, while the hydrophilic charged ends remain • Colloid
outside in the water phase, shielding the rest of • Detergent
the hydrophobic micelle. In this way, the small oil
droplet becomes water-soluble. • Thorium monoxide has the highest known internal
electric field of any molecule.
 5

• Chemical properties

5 References
[1] Jensen, William B. (2009). “The Origin of the “Delta”
Symbol for Fractional Charges”. J. Chem. Educ. 86: 545.
doi:10.1021/ed086p545.

[2] Ingold, C. K.; Ingold, E. H. (1926). “The Nature of the

Alternating Effect in Carbon Chains. Part V. A Discus-
sion of Aromatic Substitution with Special Reference to
Respective Roles of Polar and Nonpolar Dissociation; and
a Further Study of the Relative Directive Efficiencies of
Oxygen and Nitrogen”. J. Chem. Soc.: 1310–1328.

[3] Pauling, L. (1960). The Nature of the Chemical Bond (3rd

ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 98–100.

6 External links
• Chemical Bonding
• Polarity of Bonds and Molecules

• Molecule Polarity
6 7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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