Chemical polarity

Chemical polarity is an uneven distribution of electrical charge in a bond or molecule. It arises from differences in electronegativity and the arrangement of atoms.

Electronegativity: A measure of an atom’s tendency to attract shared electrons in a chemical bond. Electronegativity differences create the bond dipoles that contribute to polarity.
Chemical bond: An attractive interaction that holds atoms or ions together in a substance. Bond polarity describes how shared electron density is distributed within a bond.
Hydrogen bond: An attraction involving hydrogen bonded to an electronegative atom and another electron-rich site. Polar bonds create the partial charges that enable many hydrogen bonds.
Nonpolar molecule: A molecule with no net separation of positive and negative charge. It contrasts with polar molecules whose bond dipoles do not cancel.
Bond dipole moment: A vector measure of charge separation across a chemical bond. It represents the polarity of an individual bond before molecular dipoles are combined.
Electron: A negatively charged elementary particle found around atomic nuclei and in chemical bonds. Uneven electron density is the microscopic basis of chemical polarity.
Dipole–dipole interaction: An intermolecular attraction between permanent molecular dipoles. Molecular polarity supplies the permanent dipoles that drive this interaction.
Polar covalent bond: A covalent bond in which shared electrons are drawn more strongly toward one atom. It is a bond-level instance of chemical polarity.
Molecular geometry: The three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in a molecule. Geometry determines whether individual bond dipoles reinforce or cancel.
Partial charge: A non-integer charge assigned to an atom because electron density is unevenly distributed. Partial charges express the local charge separation that polarity describes.

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