Explain the relationship between electronegativity and polarity?

Answer 1

Take water as an example. H2O

Oxygen is much more electronegative than hydrogen ( 3.44 to 2.2 ) so the electrons of the two hydrogens in water spend more time in the orbital of oxygen then in the orbitals of the hydrogens; closer, if you will. So, this gives the oxygen end of the molecule a sightly negative charge ( two more electrons, which are negative, spending more time in oxygen's orbital range ) and the hydrogen end ( which is almost " giving " the electrons to oxygen and divested of electrons ) becomes more positive. This is the " poles " in polar. One slightly negative and one slightly positive, but the whole molecule is considered neutral.

Answer 2

If two atoms have equal electronegativities, they tend to share electrons equally in non-polar covalent bonds. However, if electronegativities differ, then the atoms tend to form either polar covalent bonds or ionic bonds.

Answer 3

Electronegativity is a measure of an atom's ability to attract electrons in a chemical bond. In a covalent bond between two atoms with different electronegativities, the more electronegative atom will attract the shared electrons closer to itself, creating a partial negative charge. This unequal sharing of electrons results in a polar bond and can lead to the overall molecule being polar.

Answer 4

When you subtract the electronegativities of two atoms, the answer determines whether there is polarity between them.

Answer 5

The polarity is higher if the difference of electronegativities of the elements of the molecule is higher.

Answer 6

The term electronegativity is applied to chemical elements; polarity is for molecules.