Question

Nonpolar molecules often include the

following shapes:
Tetrahedral (CCl4)
Trigonal planar (BF3)
Linear (CS2)
But if the bonds are not identical, then these
shapes will result in __ molecules

Answer 1

Nonpolar molecules will become polar if the bonds in their shapes are not identical.

Step-by-step explanation:

Polar molecules are asymmetric, either containing lone pairs of electrons on a central atom or having atoms with different electronegativities bonded. Nonpolar molecules have symmetric shapes, where all of the sides around the central atom are identical - bonded to the same element with no unshared pairs of electrons. However, if the bonds in a nonpolar shape are not identical, then the resulting molecules will be polar.

For example, a tetrahedral molecule like CCl4 is nonpolar, but if one of the peripheral atoms is replaced with another atom that has a different electronegativity, the resulting molecule becomes polar.