Non-polar

From The School of Biomedical Sciences Wiki
Revision as of 21:57, 25 November 2012 by 110350613 (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

A non-polar molecule is one that has symmetrical distributions of electrons, therefore not having a dipole. This is due to the electronegativities of bonded atoms/functional groups being similar to each other.

Non-polar substances are generally hydrophobic as they cannot form electrostatic attractions with the polar water molecules. Instead they form Van Der Waals forces with neighbouring molecules.