Skip to main content

Organic Chemistry

How do nonpolar molecules interact?

A nonpolar molecule is made of two or more atoms where the electronegativity difference between the atoms is less than 0.5. Therefore, the electron density in the bond is equally distributed, and there is no concentration of electrons on one atom to create a charge separation rendering the molecule essentially without poles or nonpolar. Such nonpolar molecules like H2, CH4, He, etc., will interact using the London dispersion forces without forming any positive or negative pole.

Theories on Covalent Bond Formation

Dalton, in 1804, in his work on ‘Atomic Theory,’ proposed the law of chemical combination to explain how atoms form compounds. According to him, atoms of different elements combine in a simple whole-number ratio to give compounds.

For example, two Hydrogen and one Oxygen combine to form water (H2O), or four Hydrogens and one Carbon combine to form methane (CH4), or one Nitrogen combines with three Hydrogens to give ammonia (NH3).

Newman Projection

Newman Projection is a way of representing the spatial relationship of groups attached to two adjacent carbon atoms in a molecule. The angle at which the observer makes this observation occurs when they try to visualize the molecule head-on along the bond axis joining the two atoms, such that one carbon atom is seen as a front and the other as a rear.