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Chapter 6: Problem 38

Which of each pair is most polar? Explain. (a) Chlorine and phosphorus trichloride (b) Carbon disulfide and sulfur difluoride (c) Nitrogen trifluoride and phosphorus trifluoride (d) Silicon tetrabromide and hydrogen cyanide \((\mathrm{HCN})\) (e) Nitrogen trichloride and oxygen dichloride

Short Answer

Expert verified
(a) Phosphorus trichloride is more polar due to its polar P-Cl bonds. (b) Sulfur difluoride is more polar because of its polar S-F bonds. (c) Nitrogen trifluoride is more polar due to greater electronegativity difference. (d) Hydrogen cyanide is more polar because of its electronegativity difference. (e) Oxygen dichloride is more polar because of larger electronegativity difference.

Step by step solution

01

(a) Chlorine vs. Phosphorus Trichloride

To compare the polarity of these two compounds, we need to consider the electronegativity difference between the atoms involved. Chlorine (Cl) is a diatomic element, so there is no electronegativity difference between the two chlorine atoms. Therefore, chlorine is a nonpolar molecule. Phosphorus trichloride (PCl3) is a polar molecule due to the three polar P-Cl bonds. Hence, phosphorus trichloride is more polar than chlorine.
02

(b) Carbon Disulfide vs. Sulfur Difluoride

Carbon disulfide (CS2) has a linear molecular geometry with sulfur atoms having an electronegativity of 2.58 and carbon with 2.55. The small electronegativity difference between carbon and sulfur atoms makes the bonds in CS2 almost nonpolar. Sulfur difluoride (SF2) contains two polar S-F bonds due to the high electronegativity of fluorine (3.98). Consequently, sulfur difluoride is more polar than carbon disulfide.
03

(c) Nitrogen Trifluoride vs. Phosphorus Trifluoride

Both nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) and phosphorus trifluoride (PF3) contain polar bonds due to the electronegativity difference between nitrogen/phosphorus and fluorine. However, NF3 has a greater electronegativity difference between nitrogen (3.04) and fluorine (3.98) compared to the difference between phosphorus (2.19) and fluorine. Therefore, nitrogen trifluoride is more polar than phosphorus trifluoride.
04

(d) Silicon Tetrabromide vs. Hydrogen Cyanide

Silicon tetrabromide (SiBr4) is a nonpolar molecule with a tetrahedral molecular geometry. The electronegativity difference between silicon (1.90) and bromine (2.96) is small, leading to nonpolar bonds in SiBr4. Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) has a significant electronegativity difference between hydrogen (2.20) and nitrogen (3.04), making HCN a polar molecule. Thus, hydrogen cyanide is more polar than silicon tetrabromide.
05

(e) Nitrogen Trichloride vs. Oxygen Dichloride

Nitrogen trichloride (NCl3) is a polar molecule with nitrogen-chlorine polar bonds due to the electronegativity difference of nitrogen (3.04) and chlorine (3.16). Oxygen dichloride (OCl2) also contains polar oxygen-chlorine bonds because of the electronegativity difference between oxygen (3.44) and chlorine. However, the difference in electronegativities between oxygen and chlorine atoms is greater than that in nitrogen trichloride, making oxygen dichloride more polar than nitrogen trichloride.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

The connections in \(\mathrm{CH}_{3} \mathrm{NO}_{2}\) are: (a) Put in the remaining valence electrons to complete the Lewis dot diagram. (b) Using lines, solid wedges, and dashed wedges, draw the three-dimensional shape of this molecule. Indicate the numeric value of all bond angles.

Consider the molecule \(\mathrm{SO}_{3}\). (a) Draw the dot diagram. (b) Draw the molecule's three-dimensional shape, and label the numeric value of all bond angles. (c) What is the shape of this molecule? (d) Draw in the individual bond dipole moments. (e) Is the molecule polar? If yes, draw the molecular dipole moment vector.

\(\mathrm{BH}_{3}\) and \(\mathrm{PH}_{3}\) each contain four atoms, with the three hydrogens surrounding the central atom. Do the two molecules have the same electron-group geometry? Do they have the same molecular shape? Name the geometry and the shape for both molecules. You know from Problem \(6.59\) that \(\mathrm{PH}_{3}\) is nonpolar. What about \(\mathrm{BH}_{3} ?\) Is it polar or nonpolar? Explain.

Which should have the largest dipole moment: \(\mathrm{O}_{3}, \mathrm{H}_{2} \mathrm{O}\), or \(\mathrm{OF}_{2} ?\)

Consider the molecule \(\mathrm{HNF}_{2}(\mathrm{~N}\) is the central atom in the molecule). (a) Draw the dot diagram. (b) Draw the molecule's three-dimensional shape, and label the numeric value of all bond angles. (c) What is the shape of this molecule? (d) Draw in the individual bond dipole moments. (e) Is the molecule polar? If yes, draw the molecular dipole moment vector.
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