Is CF3Cl polar?

Question

Is CF3Cl polar? and what is its lewis structure? Because my teacher said any geometry with lone pair electrons on the center are polar. Except linear, square planer which are non polar. But isn't tetrahedral symmetrical and non polar also?

Answer 1

It is not polar. I can't do Lewis structures since this word processor does print WYSIWYG on the answer page. Your teacher is correct about the lone-pair thing, but here there are no lone pairs on the central carbon atom. You should realize that polarity is not a black-and-white quality. There is a SLIGHT polar difference between this and CF4 because there is a slight difference between the C-F and C-Cl bond as to polarity, but not enough to be important.

Answer 2

It is polar. There are no lone pairs, but the four bonds in the tetrahedral (3 C-F and 1 C-Cl) are not equivalent. Since Florine is more electronegative than Chlorine, the Florine side of the molecule will pull harder on the electrons and be negatively charged. The chlorine atom will be positively charged.

Answer 3

...Cl
.....|
F--C--F
.....|
.....F (note: lone pair electrons not shown)

Because not all the terminal atoms are the same (e.g.: 3 are F, 1 is Cl), CF3Cl polar. Tetrahedrals are nonpolar when all the terminal atoms are the same (e.g.: CF4). For CF3Cl, the bonds between Cl-C will be weaker than that of the C-F bonds, so the attraction will be stronger between C and F