Final answer:
1,3-Dibromo-2,4-Dichlorocyclobutane's chirality and optical activity depend on its spatial configuration. A compound with internal symmetry is optically inactive and is considered a meso compound. Without the exact 3D structure, concluding whether it is optically active or meso is uncertain.
Step-by-step explanation:
The molecule 1,3-Dibromo-2,4-Dichlorocyclobutane is an example of chemical compound whose chirality needs to be analyzed to determine whether it exhibits optical activity or possesses certain symmetries that render it optically inactive. The optical activity of a compound can be analyzed using a polarimeter, which measures how the compound rotates the plane of polarized light. Chiral molecules will rotate the plane of polarization, whereas achiral molecules with internal symmetries will not.
In the case of 1,3-Dibromo-2,4-Dichlorocyclobutane, if we apply what we know from other compounds such as trans-1,2-dimethylcyclopropane and cis-1,2-dichloroethene, we can determine that if a molecule possesses a plane of symmetry or is superimposable on its mirror image, it does not exhibit enantiomers with different physical properties because enantiomers are non-superimposable mirror images with the same physical and chemical properties, except for their ability to rotate plane-polarized light in opposite directions.
Therefore, if 1,3-Dibromo-2,4-Dichlorocyclobutane has a plane of symmetry or is superimposable on its mirror image, then the correct answer would be that it is optically inactive due to internal compensation and is a meso compound. However, without knowing the exact spatial arrangement (cis or trans) of the substituents, we cannot definitively choose from the provided options.