Which compounds have nonpolar covalent bonds, which have polar covalent bonds, andwhich

Key concepts

Electronegativity

Ability of an atom to attract the shared pair of electrons towards it. It is a measure of the force of an atom’s attraction for electrons.

The most widely used scale of electronegativities was devised by Linus Pauling in the 1930s.

Polar covalent bond

A covalent bond between atoms when the difference in electronegativity between atoms that share a bond is from 0.5 to 1.9.

Nonpolar covalent bond

A covalent bond between atoms whose difference in electronegativity is less than approximately 0.5

Step 1 of 2

We can identify the polarity of a molecule by the electronegativity difference between the atoms in the molecule.

If the electronegativity difference between 0.5 to 1.9 it is polar covalent bond

If the difference is less than approximately 0.5 it is non polar covalent bond

Here we need to find which compounds have nonpolar covalent bonds, which have polar covalent bonds, and which have ions.

(a)           (b)       (c)     (d)