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Writer's pictureYuzhe

Bond polarity and dipole moments


(a) The charge distribution in the water molecule. (b) The water molecule in an electric field. (c) The electrostatic potential diagram of the water molecule.

(a) The structure and charge distribution of the ammonia molecule. The polarity of the N-H bonds occurs because nitrogen has a greater electronegativity than hydrogen.

(b) The dipole moment of the ammonia molecule oriented in an electric field. (c) The electrostatic potential diagram for ammonia.

(a) The carbon dioxide molecule. (b) The opposed bond polarities cancel out, and the carbon dioxide molecule has no dipole moment. (c) The electrostatic potential diagram for carbon dioxide.

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