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Polarity And Dipole Moment

Mediumchemistry

Among NF_3 and BF_3, NF_3 has a dipole moment while BF_3 has zero dipole moment; the correct explanation for this observation is:

Select the correct option:

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About This Question

Subject
chemistry
Chapter
chemical bonding and molecular structure
Topic
polarity and dipole moment
Difficulty
Medium
Year
2025
Tags
NF3 vs BF3dipole momenttrigonal planarpyramidal geometrylone pair contribution

Solution

Correct Answer:

The dipole moment of a molecule depends on both the polarity of individual bonds and the overall molecular geometry. In BF_3, boron has three bonding pairs and no lone pairs (sp^2 hybridised), forming a trigonal planar molecule. The three B-F bond dipoles are arranged at 120 degrees to each other in a plane, and they cancel vectorially to give a net dipole moment of zero. In NF_3, nitrogen has three bonding pairs and one lone pair (sp^3 hybridised), giving a trigonal pyramidal geometry. Unlike BF_3, the three N-F bond dipoles in NF_3 do not cancel because the molecular geometry is pyramidal and the lone pair on N adds its own dipole contribution (directed away from the N-F bonds). The net effect is a non-zero dipole moment for NF_3. It is important to note that in NF_3, the direction of the net dipole actually points from N towards F (because F is more electronegative and pulls electron density), resulting in a small but non-zero dipole moment of about 0.234 D. Option 'N-F bond is less polar than B-F bond' is incorrect in explaining the zero versus non-zero dipole; even if B-F is more polar, complete cancellation in the planar BF_3 geometry gives zero. Option 'BF_3 has more electrons' is irrelevant to dipole moment. Option 'NF_3 is planar while BF_3 is pyramidal' reverses the geometries. This directly tests NCERT molecular geometry and dipole moment concepts. Plausibility: the experimental dipole moments confirm BF_3 = 0 D and NF_3 = 0.234 D, consistent with the geometrical analysis.

This medium difficulty chemistry question is from the chapter chemical bonding and molecular structure, covering the topic of polarity and dipole moment. It appeared in the 2025 exam.

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