Question

What is the dipole moment of water?

Answer 1

The dipole moment of water is `"1.85 D"` or `6.17 × 10^(-30) " C·m"`.

Explanation:

The dipole moment arises because oxygen is more electronegative than hydrogen; the oxygen pulls in the shared electrons and increases the electron density around itself.

This creates an electric dipole moment vector, with the partial negative charge on the oxygen atom.

There are two `"O-H"` bonds, so the dipole moment of the molecule is the resultant vertical vector projection of the individual diagonal dipole vectors.