is methanol polar?

Question

is the molecule ch3oh polar?

Answer 1

Yes...only slightly less so than water.
(1.85 vs. 1.70 dipole moment for water vs. methanol)

Answer 2

yes, you can determine the polarity of a compound, by 1. looking at its molecular shape (via lewis dot structures and VESPR theory) 2. electronegativity between atoms in the compound. Its pretty easy in this case. The CH3OH molecule has a lone OH molecule at the end of the molecule, meaning that it can form H-bonds with other molecules, therefore, it is soluble in water, and also polar. You determine H-bonds in molecules by looking at bonds that are of N-H, F-H, or O-H, (nitrogen to hydrogen, flourine to hydorgen, oxygen to hydrogen) also note the placement of the pairs of possibly hyrdogen bonding atoms, it is very important. (As for this case, it is at the end of the molecule)

Answer 3

yes methanol is polar as it is an alcohol. All alcohol contain the functional hydroxide group (oxygen and hydrogen). This is one of the types of hydrogen bond that occure when hydrogen is bonded to either fluorine oxygen or nitrogen. If compounds contains hydrogen bods this means that that end of the molecule becomes charged and so there is an electrostatic intermolecular force of attraction other than van der waals making it polar.

Answer 4

Yes. Non-polar molecules are generally not soluble in water, but methanol is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanol

And methanol is quite polar:
http://www.usm.maine.edu/~newton/Chy251_253/Lectures/Solvents/Solvents.html

Answer 5

no.. i don't beleive so.. alcohol's don't tend to be polar

Answer 6

yes :)