Unit 6 Test Study Guide

1. Molecules are classified as polar or nonpolar depending on the differences of

electronegativity in their bonds and the symmetry of their three-dimensional shapes.
Polar molecules have at least 1 polar bond (bonds with a difference of electronegativity
from 0.4-1.7) and an asymmetrical shape. Nonpolar molecules have either all nonpolar
bonds (bonds with a difference of electronegativity below 0.4) or 1 or more polar bonds
along with a symmetrical shape.
2. Shapes of polar molecules:
1) Trigonal planar: Bent
2) Tetrahedral: Trigonal Pyramidal
3) Tetrahedral: Bent
4) Trigonal bipyramidal: Sawhorse/Seesaw
5) Trigonal bipyramidal: T-shaped
6) Octahedral: Square Pyramidal
7) Octahedral: T-shaped
All these shapes are asymmetrical.
3. A molecule with a nonpolar shape will be polar if its bonds themselves do not mirror each
other and cancel each other out. Even if a molecule has a nonpolar shape, if it features a
polar bond directly opposite a nonpolar bond, it will be nonpolar.
For example:

Carbon tetrachloride (nonpolar) Chloroform (polar)

4. If 2 molecular substances are made up of small molecules of the same mass, but one
substance consists of polar molecules and the other of nonpolar molecules, then the
substances properties will compare as follows:
Polar Nonpolar
Melting point Higher Lower
Boiling point Higher Lower
Heat of fusion Higher Lower
Heat of vaporization Higher Lower
Volatility* Lower Higher
Equilibrium vapor pressure* Lower Higher
*at the same temperature
Note: Heat of fusion is the change in enthalpy required to change a substance from a solid
to a liquid at a given pressure. Heat of vaporization is the change in enthalpy required to
change a substance from a liquid to a gas at a given pressure. Volatility is a substances
tendency to vaporize. Equilibri um vapor pressure is the pressure exerted by a substances
 vapor with its condensed phases (solid or liquid) at a given temperature in a closed
system.
5. Types of IMFA, from strongest to weakest:
1) Ioniccation to anion
2) Covalentshared electron pairs between nuclei; networks
3) Metalliccations to delocalized electrons
4) Iondipoleion charge to dipole charge
5) H bondpolar bond with hydrogen to dipole charge with high electronegativity
of fluorine, oxygen, or nitrogen
6) Dipoledipoledipole charges
7) Ioninduced dipoleion charge to polarizable electron cloud
8) Dipoleinduced dipoledipole charge to polarizable electron cloud
9) London dispersionpolarizable electron clouds
Knowing the shape of a molecule helps in determining its polarity, which in turn
determines the type of intermolecular forces with which it will attract other molecules.
6. The properties of ionic and covalent compounds compare as follows:
Ionic Covalent
Melting point Higher Lower
Boiling point Higher Lower
Heat of fusion Higher Lower
Heat of vaporization Higher Lower
Soluble in water?* Yes Yes if polar; no if nonpolar
Soluble in hexane?* No Yes if nonpolar; no if polar
*at the same temperature
7. The study of the shapes of small molecules helps us to predict the properties of large
molecules and huge macromolecules because the properties of pure substances remain
constant no matter how much is present.
8. The larger the molecule, the bigger the IMFA and the less soluble it is in a given
substance. The more complex the molecule, the more specific the enzyme that catalyzes it
must be.