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The Chemical Substance Of Hydrogen Atoms

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Introduction:
Water is a chemical substance composed atomically of an oxygen atom, and two hydrogen atoms, giving it the chemical formula H2O . It has a bent molecular structure, with the centralised oxygen atom at the top of the molecule with two lone pairs of electrons above it, and the two hydrogen atoms branching out below, each connected to the oxygen by covalent bonds. VSEPR (Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion) Theory is utilised in chemistry for the prediction of a molecules geometry. This theory was constructed off the idea that valence electron pairs around an atom have a tendency to repel each other, thus forcing the molecule to organise itself in a manner that creates the least possible electron repulsion. By observing a …show more content…

As the electrons are positioned closer to the oxygen atom, the upper segment of the molecule is slightly negatively charged (gaining negative charge from electron) and the lower segment is slightly positively charged (losing negative charge from electron) . Therefore water is a polar molecule.
A polar molecule is a molecule that possesses a negative charge at one end, and a positive charge at another end, caused by the positioning of the electrons due to electronegativity. However, a molecule can have a positive and a negative charged end and still be non-polar. Dipoles are a measure of polarity that are caused by a variation in electronegativity. The difference in electronegativity results in an atom having a greater pull on the shared pair of electrons. If the shape of a molecule causes equal dipole magnitude and an equal distance between the dipole vectors, then the dipoles cancel out and the molecule is considered non-polar .A polar molecule possesses a neutral net charge as the positive and negative sections of the molecule eliminate an imbalance in charge. Polarity is exclusive to covalent bonded compounds, as electron sharing is required in order for partial positivity and partial negativity to occur. The only covalent molecules that don’t contain polar bonds are those including atoms that possess an equal electronegativity, such as H2, or O2, as neither atom possesses a larger attractive force than the other acting upon the electrons .

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