Is BICL3 polar or non polar?

Answer 1

Do you mean BiCl3? Boron/iodine (BI) and bismuth (Bi) can make a big difference. Because boron has 3 valence electrons, it can only bond directly with three other elements. Iodine and chlorine both have 7 valence electrons, and once they have already bonded with something, there is no free space left. Thus, BICl3 is not a molecule. If you meant for the "BI" to represent bismuth, which has 5 valence electrons (still three free sides), it can still be bonded with the three chlorines since there is no longer any iodine. Capitalization matters, so do be careful. If you meant BiCl3, then it would be polar covalent. The chlorine is shared unequally by the bismuth because the electronegativity of chlorine is much higher than that of bismuth. The pull of the chlorine is described best as the following: (NOTE: The underscores are used to prevent shifting.)

Cl<-Bi->Cl

___ |

___ v

___Cl

Because the left/right pull will cancel each other out, the downward pull would cause the molecule to be polar. I hope this helps :)

Answer 2

Boron trichloride (BICl3) is a polar molecule. This is because the chlorine atoms are more electronegative than boron, leading to an uneven distribution of electron density with a net dipole moment.