What are dipole moments and how do they affect chemical bonds?

Question

I am studying dipole moments in a Biology class where we are going over the basics of Chemistry. But it does not seem so basic...

Answer 1

First answer explains the working of the dipole moments.

Here is my answer to your last Q.

Because you are in to classic chemistry and not basic .

Answer 2

Even though the total charge on a molecule is zero, the nature of chemical bonds is such that the positive and negative charges do not completely overlap in most molecules. Such molecules are said to be polar because they possess a permanent dipole moment. A good example is the dipole moment of the water molecule. Molecules with mirror symmetry like oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and carbon tetrachloride have no permanent dipole moments. Even if there is no permanent dipole moment, it is possible to induce a dipole moment by the application of an external electric field. This is called polarization and the magnitude of the dipole moment induced is a measure of the polarizability of the molecular species.