Question

carbon and chlorine have different electronegativity values, so they form polar covalent bonds. however, carbon tetrachloride CCI4 is a nonpolar compound. how can a molecule with polar bonds form a nonpolar compound?

Answer 1

There are many molecules that have polar bonds in their structure but they are nonpolar. This is because the dipole moments, that are formed thanks to these polar bonds, cancel each other out, having a total dipole moment of zero (which means that the molecule will not be polar). This happens when molecules are symmetrical and linear.