Final answer:
The bonds present in CCl₄ (carbon tetrachloride) are nonpolar covalent bonds option (a) due to the small electronegativity difference between carbon and chlorine, and the symmetric tetrahedral molecular geometry.
Step-by-step explanation:
The molecule CCl₄, known as carbon tetrachloride, consists of one carbon atom bonded to four chlorine atoms. The bonds in CCl₄ can be identified by considering the electronegativity difference between carbon (C) and chlorine (Cl).
The electronegativity of carbon is about 2.5, while that of chlorine is about 3.0. Since the difference is less than 0.5, the bond can be classified as a nonpolar covalent bond. Furthermore, the molecular geometry of CCl₄ is tetrahedral, which is symmetric, making the molecule nonpolar as a whole.
Looking at the various bond types, nonpolar covalent bonds occur when the electron density is equally distributed between atoms, often due to a very small (<0.5) electronegativity difference. Polar covalent bonds exist when the sharing of electrons is unequal due to a larger electronegativity difference, generally between 0.5 and 2.0.
Ionic bonds, on the other hand, occur when there is a transfer of electrons, typically attributed to an electronegativity difference greater than 2.0.
Since carbon and chlorine in CCl₄ share the electrons relatively equally due to their similar electronegativities, the bond is a nonpolar covalent bond, making option (a) the correct choice. There are no unshared pairs of electrons and each carbon-chlorine bond is identical, maintaining the molecule's nonpolar characteristic.