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How does the bent shape of water prevent its bond dipoles from canceling?
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chemical bonding
Different types of bonding in crystals.
The water molecule consists of two polar oxygen-hydrogen bonds, where the oxygen atom carries a partial negative charge and the hydrogen atoms carry a partial positive charge.12
In a linear molecule, such as carbon dioxide, bond dipoles point in opposite directions and cancel each other out, resulting in a nonpolar molecule. However, the water molecule is angular rather than linear, with a bond angle of 104.5°. Because of this bent shape, the individual bond dipole moments do not point in opposite directions and therefore do not cancel. This geometry results in the molecule having a nonzero net electric dipole moment, making water a polar molecule.21