# Why do dipoles cancel out?

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anor277 Share
Nov 19, 2017

Well, not all of them do.....

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Dipoles are vector quantities...and they have magnitude and direction, and are thus summed geometrically. The carbon dioxide molecule is definitely a species where there is charge separation between the carbon and the oxygen bonds....

""^(-delta)O=stackrel(delta+)C=O^(delta-)...but given the linear structure of this molecule $\angle O - C - O = {180}^{\circ}$, the bond dipoles cancel out upon vector addition and to give a ZERO resultant, and $C {O}_{2}$ is thus non-polar. For ""^(+delta)H-stackrel(delta-)O-H^(delta+), whose structure is bent, $\angle H - O - H = {104}^{\circ}$, and the dipoles DO NOT geometrically sum to zero. Water is thus a polar molecule....

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