Is it possible for a molecule to be nonpolar even though it contains polar covalent bonds?

Answer 1

Absolutely...............

Molecular polarity is conceived to result from the VECTOR sum of the individual bond dipoles. For a molecule such as #CX_4# #("X = halide")#, the individual bond dipoles are polar, due to the difference in electronegativity between carbon and halogen. However, because the vector sum of the #CrarrX# dipoles is ZERO, the molecule is non-polar.

And thus chloroform, #"CHCl"_3# is polar, while #"CCl"_4# is non-polar.

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Answer 2

Owen Ambrose

Yes, it is possible for a molecule to be nonpolar even though it contains polar covalent bonds if the polarities of the bonds cancel each other out due to the molecule's symmetrical shape.

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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.