Submitted by Hidden-Felon t3_ym6g13 in askscience
I thought that if the molecule is polar, then the bonds will be polar as well, and if the molecule is nonpolar, then the bonds will be nonpolar. But ozone is a polar molecule made of nonpolar covalent bonds, and carbon dioxide is a nonpolar molecule with polar bonds. So, is there a way to know the type of bond just by knowing the dipole moment?
BioTechproject t1_iv3tpw0 wrote
Generally polar and non-polar are rather subjective terms, as like most things this is on a spectrum and thus depends on where the line (in electronegativity) is drawn.
The dipole of a molecule just gives the average distribution of electrons across a molecule. It does not give you information about the individual bonds.
That being said for simple (diatomic) molecules the rule does apply (polar bonds = polar molecule and vice versa).
Ozone is bent, hence it has a dipole. Just like e.g. water, which also has a dipole. Carbon dioxide on the other hand does not have a permanent dipole, but can have an induced dipole (through radiation absorption or collision with other molecules, where it also gets bent)