A student discussing bond polarity and molecular polarity in alcohols made the following statements: (i) In methanol, CH₃OH, the H-O bond is less polar than the C-O bond.
(ii) Ethanol, CH₃CH₂OH, the alcohol of alcoholic beverages, has at least one polar bond, a net dipole, and is a polar molecule.
Which of the above statements is(are) true?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Statement (i) is incorrect because the H-O bond is actually more polar than the C-O bond due to the larger difference in electronegativity between hydrogen and oxygen compared to carbon and oxygen. Statement (ii) is correct; ethanol does have at least one polar bond (the O-H bond), a net dipole due to its molecular geometry, making it a polar molecule.

A Student Discussing Bond Polarity and Molecular Polarity in Alcohols