{"id":197299,"date":"2025-03-06T21:04:07","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T21:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=197299"},"modified":"2025-03-06T21:04:10","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T21:04:10","slug":"explain-why-water-molecules-are-polar-why-ethane-c2h6-molecules-are-nonpolar-and-why-carbon-dioxide-co2-molecules-are-nonpolar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/03\/06\/explain-why-water-molecules-are-polar-why-ethane-c2h6-molecules-are-nonpolar-and-why-carbon-dioxide-co2-molecules-are-nonpolar\/","title":{"rendered":"Explain why water molecules are polar, why ethane, C2H6, molecules are nonpolar, and why carbon dioxide, CO2, molecules are nonpolar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Explain why water molecules are polar, why ethane, C2H6, molecules are nonpolar, and why carbon dioxide, CO2, molecules are nonpolar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excerpt From: Mark Bishop. \u201cChapter 12 – Liquids: Condensation, Evaporation, and Dynamic Equilibrium – Atoms First.\u201d iBooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The correct answer and explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explanation of Molecular Polarity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Water (H\u2082O) \u2013 Polar Molecule<\/strong>
    Water is polar because of its bent molecular shape<\/strong> and the difference in electronegativity<\/strong> between hydrogen and oxygen. Oxygen is more electronegative than hydrogen, meaning it pulls the shared electrons closer to itself, creating a partial negative charge (\u03b4\u207b) on oxygen<\/strong> and partial positive charges (\u03b4\u207a) on hydrogen<\/strong>. The bent shape (due to lone pairs on oxygen) prevents the dipoles from canceling out, resulting in a net dipole moment<\/strong>, making H\u2082O a polar molecule.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Ethane (C\u2082H\u2086) \u2013 Nonpolar Molecule<\/strong>
    Ethane is nonpolar because it consists of carbon-carbon and carbon-hydrogen bonds<\/strong>, which have very small differences in electronegativity<\/strong> (C \u2248 2.5, H \u2248 2.1). Additionally, ethane has a tetrahedral geometry<\/strong> around each carbon atom, and its molecular symmetry ensures that any slight dipoles cancel out. With no significant separation of charge<\/strong>, C\u2082H\u2086 is nonpolar.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Carbon Dioxide (CO\u2082) \u2013 Nonpolar Molecule<\/strong>
    Although CO\u2082 has polar bonds<\/strong> (due to the electronegativity difference between carbon and oxygen), the molecule is linear (O=C=O)<\/strong>. The dipole moments of the two polar bonds cancel each other out<\/strong> because they are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction. This results in no net dipole moment<\/strong>, making CO\u2082 a nonpolar molecule.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Thus, water is polar due to its bent shape and dipole moment, while ethane and carbon dioxide are nonpolar due to their molecular symmetry canceling out any dipole moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n

    Now, I’ll generate an image to visually illustrate these molecular structures and their polarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here is a scientific diagram illustrating the polarity of Water (H\u2082O), Ethane (C\u2082H\u2086), and Carbon Dioxide (CO\u2082). It visually represents their molecular structures, dipole moments, and polarity characteristics. Let me know if you need any modifications!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Explain why water molecules are polar, why ethane, C2H6, molecules are nonpolar, and why carbon dioxide, CO2, molecules are nonpolar. Excerpt From: Mark Bishop. \u201cChapter 12 – Liquids: Condensation, Evaporation, and Dynamic Equilibrium – Atoms First.\u201d iBooks. The correct answer and explanation is: Explanation of Molecular Polarity Thus, water is polar due to its bent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-197299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197299\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}