Chemistry 2

Polarity of Molecules and Strength
(The page may take a minute to load and configure the molecules.)

  1. The more polar a molecule is the stronger it will be able to attract to other molecules.
  2. The most common way for a molecule to be more polar is to have more polar covalent bonds, creating more polar regions where dipole-dipole attractions can occur.
More Polar Regions = Stronger Overall Dipole-Dipole Attraction Between Molecules
less polar molecules
more polar molecules
electrostatic potential view ball and stick (colored by element)
The more polar molecule forms more of the stronger dipole-dipole attractions. Both molecules form about the same London Dispersion attractions.

Dipole-Dipole attraction in green
London Dispersion attraction in purple