Practice Molecular Polarity in Chemistry

Use these practice problems to test your method after reviewing the concept explanation and worked examples.

Worksheet PDF Free Answer-key PDF Family

Quick Recap

The overall asymmetric distribution of electric charge in a molecule, arising from the combination of individual bond polarities and the three-dimensional molecular geometry.

Even if individual bonds are polar, the molecule can be nonpolar if the dipoles cancel out symmetrically.

Showing a random 20 of 50 problems.

Example 1

hard
BF3BF_3 (planar, 0 D) reacts with NH3NH_3 (pyramidal, 1.47 D) to form H3Nโˆ’BF3H_3N-BF_3. Why is the adduct polar?

Example 2

easy
What does a molecular dipole moment of zero indicate about a molecule's polarity?

Example 3

challenge
Predict the polarity ordering of parapara-, metameta-, and orthoortho-dichlorobenzene.

Example 4

medium
Which polar molecule has hydrogen bonding: NH3NH_3 or PH3PH_3?

Example 5

easy
The SI unit of dipole moment is the ____.

Example 6

hard
XeF2XeF_2 is linear with three lone pairs on Xe. Polar or nonpolar?

Example 7

easy
Which molecule has the larger dipole moment: H2OH_2O (1.85 D) or H2SH_2S (0.97 D)?

Example 8

medium
BF3BF_3 is trigonal planar with three polar B-F bonds. Is it polar or nonpolar?

Example 9

medium
The dipole moment is ฮผ=qร—d\mu = q \times d. If q=1.6ร—10โˆ’19q = 1.6 \times 10^{-19} C and d=1.0ร—10โˆ’10d = 1.0 \times 10^{-10} m, find ฮผ\mu.

Example 10

hard
If a tetrahedral molecule AX4AX_4 has two X atoms replaced by Y (so AX2Y2AX_2Y_2, e.g., CH2Cl2CH_2Cl_2), is it always polar?

Example 11

challenge
Why is ciscis-2-butene only weakly polar (~0.3 D) even though it lacks the symmetry of transtrans-2-butene?

Example 12

easy
Is SF6SF_6 (octahedral, six identical S-F bonds) polar or nonpolar?

Example 13

hard
Predict whether ozone O3O_3 (bent) has a dipole moment despite all atoms being oxygen.

Example 14

easy
A molecule is polar overall only when its bond dipoles do not ____.

Example 15

easy
Is XeF4XeF_4 (square planar) polar or nonpolar?

Example 16

challenge
CO2CO_2 and H2OH_2O both contain two polar bonds. Using vector addition of bond dipoles, explain why only water has a net dipole.

Example 17

medium
PCl5PCl_5 has five P-Cl polar bonds. The molecule is trigonal bipyramidal. Polar or nonpolar?

Example 18

easy
Will a polar molecule dissolve well in water?

Example 19

easy
Which dissolves better in water: ethanol or hexane?

Example 20

easy
Is carbon dioxide CO2CO_2 polar or nonpolar?
โ† Back to Molecular Polarity Worked Examples Formula Explained