What I Know

Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on a separate
sheet of paper.

1. According to this theory, the outer shell electrons are most important
in chemical bonding
a. VSEPR Theory
b. Bohr’s Theory
c. Atomic Theory
d. Rutherford’s Theory

2. In Covalent Lewis Structure, electrons are represented as,

a. Wave
b. Particle
c. Dot
d. Line

3. Following the octet rule and Lewis structure, a single bond

represents how many electrons?
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4

4. These are electrons that are not bonded or not shared with other
atom.
a. Bonding pairs
b. Valance electrons
c. Lone Pairs
d. Excited electrons

5. When atoms combine to form compounds, their electrons can be

transferred or ____________,
a. Gain
b. Lose
c. Shared
d. Disappear
Lesson
Polar and Non Polar
4 Molecules
Atoms of different or same elements come together to form molecules and these molecules
come in two classes; polar and non-polar. Some molecules are clearly polar or non-polar while some
have polar bonds but generally non-polar depending on its symmetry. This lesson will provide a way
on predicting whether a molecule is polar or non-polar based on their structure.

What’s In

When elements combine to form compounds or molecules they tend to form a very specific
shape or structure and one of the factor in predicting the structure or shape of the resulting
molecule is the element’s electronegativity. In order to understand molecular shape one has to
become familiar with electronegativity and the Covalent Lewis dot structure.

Notes to the Teacher

Possible flow of the lesson.
1. Review: Drawing the Lewis dot structure of molecules.
2. Discussion of Electronegativity
3. Discussion of polarity of molecules
4. Giving of examples
 What’s New

1. Electronegativity
Electronegativity is a property of an atom to attract electrons. Usually,
the electrons in a chemical bond are more attracted to one atom (the more
electronegative one) than to the other. When two atoms have the same
electronegativity then electrons will be shared equally between them.
Figure 1. Electronegativity trends in the periodic table

Electronegativity increases from left to right and decreases moving down the
periodic table.
Top 4 elements with the highest electronegativity
1. Fluorine
2. Oxygen
3. Nitrogen
4. Carbon
2. Polarity of molecules
When all the atoms in a covalent molecule have the same
electronegativity, electrons tend to be shared equally between them making
the molecule polar. When there is electronegativity difference between atoms
in a molecule then electrons are not shared equally making the molecule
non polar.
Non-polar – When electrons in a molecule are equally shared, evenly
distributed.
Polar – When electrons are not equally shared and not evenly distributed.
Example:

Molecule Molecular Lewis structure Electron

formula distribution
Shape
Polarity
(-) -Uneven
distribution
- Electrons not
Water H2O equally shared
-Bent Shape
H H(+) -Polar
(+)
-Even
distribution
-Electrons
Carbon Dioxide CO2 equally shared
O=C=O -Linear
-Non-polar

In water molecules, oxygen has a higher electronegativity that

Hydrogen which makes the sharing of electrons more favourable to oxygen
than to hydrogen. Electrons tend to stay closer to oxygen than to hydrogen
making hydrogen slightly positive charge. The lone pairs of oxygen tend to
group together due to the repulsive force of the positive hydrogen atom
making the Oxygen atom slightly negative.
In Carbon dioxide molecule, Carbon Oxygen connection is polar due to
their electronegativity differences; however, the symmetry between the two
polar bonds is at 180 degree so the dipoles cancel each other out.
 What is It

1. How do you represent compounds using Lewis structure?

2. What is electronegativity?

3. How does electronegativity predict the polarity of a molecule?

4. How do you describe the distribution of electrons in polar molecules?

5. How do you describe the distribution of electrons in non-polar molecules?

6. What happens to the polarity of molecules if it’s one side has plenty of lone pairs compare to its

other side?

7. What happens to the polarity of molecules if it’s all sides has same number of electrons?
 What’s More

Activity 1.1 Polarity of molecules

Predict the polarity of the following molecules
1. HCl 4. NH3
2. CF4 5. CH4
3. CHCl3
 What I Have Learned

1. Electronegativity is a property of an atom to attract electrons.

2. During sharing of electrons, electrons tend to be more attracted to atoms with

higher electronegativity creating a difference in polarity between the two atoms.

3. Electrons stay closer to atoms with higher electronegativity creating an

unbalance electron distribution and making the molecule polar.

4. Lone pair electrons also account to uneven distribution of electrons affecting the

polarity of a molecules.

5. When electrons are uniformly distributed the molecules is said to be non-polar

which means no negative or positive sides.

6. Lewis dot structure can be used to determine whether a molecule is polar or

non-polar
 What I Can Do

Draw the Lewis structure of the following compounds then determine

whether they are polar or non-polar.
1. HF 4. PCl3
2. SF4 5. SiH4
3. SH2

Assessment

Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on a
separate sheet of paper.

1. The ability of an atom to attract electrons,

a. Ionization energy
b. Electronegativity
c. Electron affinity
d. Electron configuration

2. When electrons are unevenly distributed in a molecule, the molecule

is said to be
a. Polar c. Ionic
b. Non-polar d. Metallic
3. Which of the following molecule is polar?
a. H2 c. NI3
b. N2 d. SiH4

4. All are non-polar except,

a. C6H6 c. O2
b. C2H4 d.Li2O

5. The following statements about polarity are true except,

a. A molecule with lone pairs is always polar
b. Polarity depends on the distribution of electrons
c. Polarity depends on the electronegativity of atoms in the
molecule.
d. A molecule with polar covalent bond can be non-polar
depending on its symmetry.

Additional Activities

A. Research on the following molecules, how they are use and what they are

used for?
1. Glucose 4. Chlorofluorocarbon
2. Agua Oxigenada 5. Dry Ice
3. Ethylene
B. Draw the Lewis structure of the molecules above then tell whether they
are polar or non-polar
What I Know What's More Assessment
A Polar B
C 2. Non-polar A
B C
3. Polar
C D
C 4. Polar A
5. Non-polar
Answer Key
References

1. Conceptual science and beyond: Physical science by R. Bulataran, R. Olipane, J.

Santos 2016.
2. Chemistry in Focus, a molecular view of our world by N. Tro 2003
3. Teaching Guide for Senior High School Physical Science by Commission on
Higher Education 2016
4. YouTube videos
a. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVL24HAesnc
Polar & Non-Polar Molecules: Crash Course Chemistry #23
b. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8LF7JEb0IA
Bonding Models and Lewis Structures: Crash Course Chemistry #24