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Home » Although both and are triatomic molecules, the shape of the molecule is bent while that of is linear. Explain this on the basis of dipole moment.
Although both CO _{2} and H _{2} O are triatomic molecules, the shape of the H _{2} O molecule is bent while that of CO _{2} is linear. Explain this on the basis of dipole moment.
CBSE | Chemical Bonding and Molecular Structure | Chemistry | Chemistry | Class 12 | NCERT Exemplar
Although both CO _{2} and H _{2} O are triatomic molecules, the shape of the H _{2} O molecule is bent while that of CO _{2} is linear. Explain this on the basis of dipole moment.

Solution:

CO_2 has a dipole moment of 0 according to experimental results. And it’s only possible if the molecule’s shape is linear, because the dipole moments of the C-O bond are equal and opposite, nullifying each other.

The dipole moment of H_2O is 1.84 D. Because the dipole moments of the O-H bond are unequal, the value of dipole moments indicates that the structure of the water molecule is bent.

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