Polar Bonds and Polar Molecules

Does the presence of one or more polar bonds in a molecule always result in a polar molecule? The

• answer is no.
• A polar molecule is one with polar bonds that add together—they do not cancel each other—to form a net dipole moment.
• If a diatomic molecule contains a polar bond, then the molecule is polar.
• For molecules with more than two atoms, it is more difficult to tell polar molecules from nonpolar ones because two or more polar bonds may cancel one another.