Polar bond
A polar bond is a type of covalent bond between two atoms or more in which electrons are shared unequally.
A polar bond is a type of covalent bond between two atoms or more in which electrons are shared unequally.
The two atoms have a different electronegativity. So the bonding electrons are attracted to one nucleus a little more than to the other. Because of this, one end of the molecule has a slight, relative negative charge and the other a slight, relative positive charge. An example of atoms bonded by a polar bond is the water molecule (H2O), which is made up of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. The oxygen atom is more electronegative than the hydrogen atom in each bond.
Bond polarity is a useful concept for describing the sharing of electrons between atoms.
- A non–polar covalent bond is one in which the electrons are shared equally between two atoms.
- A polar covalent bond is one in which one atom has a greater attraction for the electrons than the other atom. If this relative attraction is great enough, then the bond is an ionic bond.
Electronegativity
A quantity termed ‘electronegativity’ is used to determine whether a given bond will be non–polar covalent,
polar covalent, or ionic. Electronegativity is defined as the ability of an atom in a particular molecule to attract electrons
to itself – (the greater the value, the greater the attractiveness for electrons).