{"id":250672,"date":"2025-07-10T11:44:58","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T11:44:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=250672"},"modified":"2025-07-10T11:45:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T11:45:00","slug":"for-each-of-the-following-pairs-of-molecules-determine-which-is-most-polar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/10\/for-each-of-the-following-pairs-of-molecules-determine-which-is-most-polar\/","title":{"rendered":"For each of the following pairs of molecules, determine which is most polar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For each of the following pairs of molecules, determine which is most polar: C2H4 or C2H5OH, C2H6 or CH3OCH3, CCl4 or CF4, H2O or H2S. C2H4: C2H5OH, C2H6: CH3OCH3, CCl4: CF4, H2O: H2S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Correct Answer and Explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s analyze each pair to determine which molecule is more polar:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. C2H4 (ethene) vs. C2H5OH (ethanol):<\/strong>
    • C2H4 (ethene)<\/strong>: This is a nonpolar molecule due to its symmetric structure and equal sharing of electrons between the carbon atoms.<\/li>
    • C2H5OH (ethanol)<\/strong>: Ethanol is a polar molecule because of the hydroxyl group (OH). The oxygen in the OH group has a partial negative charge, while the hydrogen has a partial positive charge. This creates a dipole moment in the molecule.<\/li><\/ul>More polar<\/strong>: C2H5OH (ethanol)<\/strong> is more polar due to the polar OH group.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • C2H6 (ethane) vs. CH3OCH3 (dimethyl ether):<\/strong>
      • C2H6 (ethane)<\/strong>: Ethane is a nonpolar molecule because it is symmetrical and the electrons are evenly shared between the two carbon atoms.<\/li>
      • CH3OCH3 (dimethyl ether)<\/strong>: Dimethyl ether has an oxygen atom, which is electronegative and creates a dipole between the oxygen and the two methyl groups (CH3). The oxygen atom pulls electron density away from the carbon atoms, creating a dipole moment.<\/li><\/ul>More polar<\/strong>: CH3OCH3 (dimethyl ether)<\/strong> is more polar due to the dipole created by the oxygen atom.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • CCl4 (carbon tetrachloride) vs. CF4 (carbon tetrafluoride):<\/strong>
        • CCl4 (carbon tetrachloride)<\/strong>: This is a nonpolar molecule because it has a symmetrical tetrahedral structure, and the dipoles of the four C-Cl bonds cancel each other out.<\/li>
        • CF4 (carbon tetrafluoride)<\/strong>: Similar to CCl4, CF4 is also a tetrahedral molecule. However, the fluorine atoms are more electronegative than chlorine, which creates dipoles that cancel out symmetrically.<\/li><\/ul>More polar<\/strong>: Neither<\/strong> is more polar. Both are nonpolar due to their symmetrical tetrahedral structure, despite the difference in electronegativity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • H2O (water) vs. H2S (hydrogen sulfide):<\/strong>
          • H2O (water)<\/strong>: Water is highly polar. Oxygen is more electronegative than hydrogen, creating a significant dipole moment in the molecule.<\/li>
          • H2S (hydrogen sulfide)<\/strong>: Although sulfur is less electronegative than oxygen, it still creates a dipole in the H2S molecule. However, the dipole moment is weaker than in water due to sulfur\u2019s lower electronegativity.<\/li><\/ul>More polar<\/strong>: H2O (water)<\/strong> is more polar due to the stronger electronegativity difference between oxygen and hydrogen.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

            Summary:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
              \n
            • C2H4 vs. C2H5OH<\/strong>: C2H5OH<\/strong> (ethanol) is more polar.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • C2H6 vs. CH3OCH3<\/strong>: CH3OCH3<\/strong> (dimethyl ether) is more polar.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • CCl4 vs. CF4<\/strong>: Neither is more polar; both are nonpolar.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • H2O vs. H2S<\/strong>: H2O<\/strong> (water) is more polar.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
              \"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              For each of the following pairs of molecules, determine which is most polar: C2H4 or C2H5OH, C2H6 or CH3OCH3, CCl4 or CF4, H2O or H2S. C2H4: C2H5OH, C2H6: CH3OCH3, CCl4: CF4, H2O: H2S. The Correct Answer and Explanation is: Let’s analyze each pair to determine which molecule is more polar: Summary:<\/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-250672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250672","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=250672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250672\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}