Covalent Bondingequally, resulting in a completelynon-polar covalentbond. In covalent bonds where the
bonded atoms are different elements, there is a difference in electronegativities between the
two atoms. The atom that is more electronegative will attract the bonding electrons more
toward itself than the less electronegative atom. The difference in charge on the two atoms
because of the electrons causes the covalent bond to be polar. Greater differences in elec-
tronegativity result in more polar bonds. Depending on the difference in electronegativities,
the polarity^6 of a bond can range from non-polar covalent to ionic with varying degrees of
polar covalentin between. An overall imbalance in charge from one side of a molecule
to the other side is called adipole moment. Such molecules are said to bepolar. For
a completely symmetrical covalently bonded molecule, the overall dipole moment of the
molecule is zero. Molecules with larger dipole moments are more polar. The most common
polar molecule is water.