NAME DATE PERIOD________ QUESTIONS FOR "THE BARE

ESSENTIALS OF POLARITY"
PAGE 1:
1. How does the comic define a "polar molecule"?

A polar molecule is just a molecule with a difference in electrical charge between two ends.

2. Define "electronegativity".

Electronegativity is the ability of an atom/nucleus to attract electrons towards itself.

3. Why do the electrons spend more time around the chlorine atom than around the hydrogen atom?

The bonded pair of electrons spends more time near the chlorine’s nucleus because chlorine is more electronegative
than hydrogen.

4. What do the two scoops of ice cream between the penguin and polar bear represent?

The scoops of ice-cream represent a bonded pair of electrons.

5. Why do you think the author chose to draw the polar bear consuming more of the ice cream than the penguin and
not the other way around? (basically, what do the polar bear and the penguin represent?)

The penguin represents hydrogen and the polar bear represents chlorine and since the electrons like to spend more
time around the chlorine atom than the hydrogen atom, the bear is consuming more of the ice cream (bonded
electrons.)

6. Why did the artist draw the larger polar bears in the top right corner of the iceberg at the bottom of page 1?

The larger polar bears represent the peak of electronegativity on the periodic table.

7. Why are the penguins in the bottom corner of the iceberg tiny?

The tiny penguins represent the lowest point of electronegativity on the periodic table.

8. Why are the noble gases assigned an electronegativity (EN) value of zero?

The noble gases are assigned an EN value of zero because they are relatively non-reactive.

PAGE 2:
9. What is created around the more electronegative atom when two atoms of unequal electronegativity bond? What
is created around the atom that has the lower EN value?

When two atoms of unequal electronegativity bond the bonding electrons spend more time around the more
electronegative atom creating a partial negative charge. The other atom that has the lower EN value then has a
partial positive charge and the bond is polar.
10. What kind of bonds form between two bonded atoms with equal electrons attracting strength (EN values)? (ex. 2
polar bears of the same size or 2 penguins of the same size).

The polarity of a bond is a function of the difference between the EN value to two bonding atoms, therefore bonded
atoms with equal electron-attracting strength will have nonpolar bonds.

11. What happens if the EN values of the two bonded atoms are unequal? Look at the cartoon - which animal
represents the greater EN value?

If the EN of two bonded atoms is unequal, then their bond will be polarized. The polar bear represents the greater
EN value.

PAGE 3:
12. What are the three categories of bonds that fall within the "continuum of bonding"?

The three categories of bonds include (1) nonpolar covalent, (2) polar covalent, and (3) ionic.

13. What do the four scoops of ice cream represent?

The four scoops represent the O2 being double-bonded.

14. What combination of atoms produce nonpolar covalent bonds?

The clearest examples of nonpolar covalent bonds are those between identical atoms, such as H2, N2, O2 or Cl2.

15. What happens in a polar covalent bond?

In a polar covalent bond, two atoms still share bonded pairs of electrons, but those electrons are decidedly more
attracted to one atom than the other.

16. What is produced around the fluorine atom of the HF bond? Which animal would the F atom represent?

A partial negative charge is produced around the fluorine atom of the HF bond, which is represented in the comic by
the polar bear.

17. What does the more electronegative atom do with the electron in an ionic bond? What does this atom turn into?
What happens to the atom with the low EN value?

The more electronegative atom seizes all the bonding electrons and becomes a negative ion, while the other atom
becomes a positive ion.

18. Why did the artist choose to represent sodium with the penguin and not the polar bear?

The artist chose to represent sodium with the penguin because the atom is both smaller in size and has low EN
value.

PAGE 4:
19. Why is the "bond" between the two polar bears in the top left picture considered "nonpolar"?
The N2 molecule isn’t a dipole (it’s not a polar molecule), and it doesn’t have any dipoles (polar bonds) within it.

20. Why is the "bond" between the polar bear and penguin in the picture on the top right considered "polar"? Is the
overall "molecule" polar or nonpolar? Why?

HCl has a dipole (a polar bond) and it is a dipole (a polar molecule).

21. What kind of bonds exist between the polar bear and penguin in the bottom left picture? Is the overall
"molecule" polar or nonpolar? Why?

CO2 has two dipoles (two polar bonds) but the CO2 molecule itself is not a dipole because its polar bonds cancel
eachother out and make the molecule nonpolar overall.

22. What kind of bonds exist between the polar bears and the penguins in the bottom right picture? Is the overall
"molecule" polar or nonpolar? Why?

H2O has two dipoles (two polar bonds) but because of H2Os bent shape (caused by lone pairs of electrons in the
oxygen atom) H2O also has a dipole in the sense of overall polarity. So H2O is a dipole in the sense of being a polar
molecule.