Answer to Question #195118 in General Chemistry for Mer

Question

would dichloromethane molecule be polar if the hydrogen and chlorine atoms were placed at the corners of a rectangle surrounding carbon instead of in their actual locations?

Answer 1

Yes

To determine whether a molecule is polar or nonpolar, look at its molecular shape, which is tetrahedral. The dipole moments do not cancel because two of the atoms bound to the carbon are chlorine and the other two are hydrogen. For the dipole moments to cancel out, all four atoms bound to carbon must be the same unit.