Molecular Dipole Moments

You previously learned how to calculate the dipole moments of simple diatomic molecules. In more complex molecules with polar covalent bonds, the three-dimensional geometry and the compound’s symmetry determine whether there is a net dipole moment. Mathematically, dipole moments are vectors; they possess both a magnitude and a direction. The dipole moment of a molecule is therefore the vector sum of the dipole moments of the individual bonds in the molecule. If the individual bond dipole moments cancel one another, there is no net dipole moment. Such is the case for CO₂, a linear molecule (Figure 1.1a ). Each C–O bond in CO₂ is polar, yet experiments show that the CO₂ molecule has no dipole moment. Because the two C–O bond dipoles in CO₂ are equal in magnitude and oriented at 180° to each other, they cancel. As a result, the CO₂ molecule has no net dipole moment even though it has a substantial separation of charge. In contrast, the H₂O molecule is not linear (Figure 1.1 b); it is bent in three-dimensional space, so the dipole moments do not cancel each other. Thus a molecule such as H₂O has a net dipole moment. We expect the concentration of negative charge to be on the oxygen, the more electronegative atom, and positive charge on the two hydrogens. This charge polarization allows H₂O to hydrogen-bond to other polarized or charged species, including other water molecules.

Figure 1.1 : How Individual Bond Dipole Moments Are Added Together to Give an Overall Molecular Dipole Moment for Two Triatomic Molecules with Different Structures. (a) In CO₂, the C–O bond dipoles are equal in magnitude but oriented in opposite directions (at 180°). Their vector sum is zero, so CO₂ therefore has no net dipole. (b) In H₂O, the O–H bond dipoles are also equal in magnitude, but they are oriented at 104.5° to each other. Hence the vector sum is not zero, and H₂O has a net dipole moment.

Other examples of molecules with polar bonds are shown in Figure 1.2 . In molecular geometries that are highly symmetrical (most notably tetrahedral and square planar, trigonal bipyramidal, and octahedral), individual bond dipole moments completely cancel, and there is no net dipole moment. Although a molecule like CHCl₃ is best described as tetrahedral, the atoms bonded to carbon are not identical. Consequently, the bond dipole moments cannot cancel one another, and the molecule has a dipole moment. Due to the arrangement of the bonds in molecules that have V-shaped, trigonal pyramidal, seesaw, T-shaped, and square pyramidal geometries, the bond dipole moments cannot cancel one another. Consequently, molecules with these geometries always have a nonzero dipole moment.