Which of the following designations, polar or nonpolar, are correct for the given compounds below?

Question

a) CFCl3 : nonpolar

b) NCl3 : polar

c) CaCl2 : polar

d) CH3CH2F : nonpolar

Answer 1

All of the mentioned compounds are polar-

A is wrong, as it contains electronegative elements chlorine & fluorine bonded to the carbon, they would be delta negative, and carbon would be delta positive.

B is right, the chlorine is more electronegative than nitrogen so the N will be delta positive and the chlorine would be negative.

C is right, due to the negative charge of chlorine and the positive charge of calcium..

D is wrong, as the fluorine has a electronegative charge. It would be delta negative, wheras the carbon it's joined to would be delta positive.

Answer 2

a) CFCl3 : nonpolar

While CCl4 is nonpolar because the dipole moments cancel each other out, CFCl3 would be polar because the fluorine's dipole moment would introduce an asymmetry in the dipole moments of the molecule.


b) NCl3 : polar

c) CaCl2 : polar

It's ionic - "polar" is a understatement.\

d) CH3CH2F : nonpolar

What? Fluorine gives the compound a significant dipole moment.

Answer 3

they are all polar, besides CaCl2 that is a salt and is a ionic compound and of course is strongly polar, the other molecules contains C atoms with sp3 hibridations, with a net dipolar moment in favor of the strong electronegative atoms (F or Cl)
the N in NCl3 is sp3 too, because you have to consider the 2 free electrons on it.

Answer 4

a and b are correct.