Polarity (chemistry)

In chemistry, polarity is a separation of electric charge leading to a molecule or its chemical groups having an electric dipole or multipole moment.

Polar molecules must contain polar bonds due to a difference in electronegativity between the bonded atoms. A polar molecule with two or more polar bonds must have 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.

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 electronegativities. 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 negative electric charge. Because the amount of charge separated 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. The bond dipole moment is calculated by multiplying the amount of charge separated and the distance between the charges.

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