Are #"CCl"_4# or #"CBr"_4# polar?

Answer 1

The bond is, the molecule is not................

We could represent the polarity of an individual #C-Cl# bond as #""^(delta+)C-Cl^(delta-)# in that chlorine is more electronegative than carbon, and charge separation, i.e. polarity occurs. And thus the #C-Cl# bond is POLAR. But molecular polarity is the result of the VECTOR sum of the individual bond dipoles. And thus when we sum geometrically in a vector fashion, the RESULTANT bond dipole is ZERO.............And thus #"CCl"_4# and #"CBr"_4# are NON-POLAR molecules, whereas #"HCCl"_3# and #"CH"_2"Cl"_2# are POLAR........

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Answer 2

Luna Chen

Neither "CCl4" nor "CBr4" are polar molecules because they exhibit symmetrical distribution of charge due to the tetrahedral geometry around the central carbon atom, resulting in cancellation of dipole moments.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.