Why is CH2Cl2 polar?

[vindicate]

Hi guys,

I was hoping you could help me out on this.

''''''''' H
'''''''''''..
'''''Cl-C-Cl
'''''''''''..
'''''''''''H


the above is what i pictured when i saw CH2Cl2.
destroyer says its polar because they pictured it like the diagram below.
Can anyone tell me why CH2Cl2 has the below conformation over the one above?


''''''''''H
''''''''''..
'''''H-C-Cl
''''''''''..
''''''''''Cl

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[476515678234896]

i have no idea what you drew but the chlorine atoms are more electronegative than carbon (carbon is more electropositive than cl) and makes 2 delta negative charges in the cl's direction. The net charge is out between the chlorine making it polar.

 

[PeachyPhd]

Don't forget that these are three-dimentional structures. If you build a model, you might answer your own question.

 

[Baylor2011]

Draw it with molecular geometry...which in this case is a tetrahedral.

No matter which way you arrange the atoms, the 2 chlorine dipoles never cancel each other out.

 

[vindicate]

Draw it with molecular geometry...which in this case is a tetrahedral.

No matter which way you arrange the atoms, the 2 chlorine dipoles never cancel each other out.

thanks. makes sense.

 

[Imanm]

Hi guys,

I was hoping you could help me out on this.

''''''''' H
'''''''''''..
'''''Cl-C-Cl
'''''''''''..
'''''''''''H


the above is what i pictured when i saw CH2Cl2.
destroyer says its polar because they pictured it like the diagram below.
Can anyone tell me why CH2Cl2 has the below conformation over the one above?


''''''''''H
''''''''''..
'''''H-C-Cl
''''''''''..
''''''''''Cl

this is very easy to get confused over but if you think about it it actually is very simple.
if you were to see an atom, it would look like a sphere. as you know the internal angle of a circle is 360 degrees. now if you have an atom connected to four other atomes, keeping in mind that the electron clouds within these bonds repel each other and want to stay as far away as possible from each other, youd have to devide 360 by 4 which comes out to 90 if the atom was a flat circle. however since atoms are spherical and 3D they are able to push these bonds to about 109 degrees away. now keeping in mind that the two C-Cl bonds are 109 degrees away from each other and also more polar than the C-H bonds you can clearlly see that the molecule is polar. compare this with CO2 which has two C=O bonds 180 degrees apart. because of the fact that they are 180 degrees apart they are exactly in opposite directions from each other therefore canceling out eachother's the polarity.

 

[sfoksn]

You drew the exact same molecule twice

 

[tommyngu]

You drew the exact same molecule twice

yup, those two drawings represent the same thing. draw or build a 3d model of it. no matter where you put the 2 Cl atoms, it will be the same molecule.

 

[INH]

just reemphasizing that CH2Cl2 is tetrahedral and one half of the molecule with always have a more electronegative charge than the other half depending on how the chlorines/hydrogens are bonded to the central carbon (109.5 degree bonding angles).this unequal distribution of poles makes CH2Cl2 polar