Does #H_2O# have a greater dipole moment than #H_2S#?

1 Answer
Dec 12, 2016

#"My word.........."#

Explanation:

This site reports the dipole moment of water at #1.8546*"Debye"#.

And this site reports the dipole moment of hydrogen sulfide at #0.97*"Debye"#.

Of course, you don't have to remember these values, but you might be expected to interpret them rationally. Oxygen is more electronegative than sulfur, and thus there should be a greater polarization of electron density, a greater charge separation, in the water molecule as compared to the hydrogen sulfide molecule.