I am in Chem 2 and I dont know what I am not understanding about polarity and bond angles of molecules so I would like some answers lol. Like what makes molecules polar or nor polar in specific. Thanks in advance!
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Imagine a hydrogen atom, a proton with a circling electron. It has a net zero charge *over all* but the electron and proton are separate things. Imagine I grabbed the electron and glued it in place to the left of the proton, now you have a (-) side on the left where the electron is and a (+) side on the right where the proton is. This is called “polarity” and it’s kind of similar to the north/south poles on a magnet, only using electric charge in lieu of magnetism.
Now imagine a water molecule, the oxygen atom pulls on the hydrogen’s electrons and holds them close, just like the example above. So now the side of the hydrogen atom that’s closest to the oxygen atom is the (-) charge and the side that’s opposite the oxygen has the (+) charge. Similarly, presence of the hydrogen’s electrons repels the oxygen’s existing electrons away to the opposite side. So a water molecule is polar, meaning the hydrogen side is slightly positive and the oxygen side is slightly negative. This polarity is pretty powerful and part of the reason why water things like salt love dissolving in water, the water’s polarity is powerful enough to tear the salt molecule apart.
Bond angles are related to polarity. The various (-) and (+) parts of a molecule all push and pull on each other and eventually establish a balance.
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