Is water polar?

Is water polar?

• A. No
• B. Yes
• C. It depends on temperature
• D. Only in liquid form

Answer: (B)

Polarity comes from how electrons are distributed in a molecule and its shape. In water, oxygen is much more electronegative than hydrogen, pulling electron density toward itself. The molecule is bent, so the two O–H bond dipoles do not cancel; they add up to give a net dipole moment. That makes water a polar molecule. This intrinsic polarity exists in any phase—the dipole moment is a property of the molecule itself—so temperature or phase changes don’t remove the polarity. They may alter how strongly water molecules interact with each other (like hydrogen bonding) or how they arrange, but water remains polar in gas, liquid, and solid forms.

Polarity comes from how electrons are distributed in a molecule and its shape. In water, oxygen is much more electronegative than hydrogen, pulling electron density toward itself. The molecule is bent, so the two O–H bond dipoles do not cancel; they add up to give a net dipole moment. That makes water a polar molecule. This intrinsic polarity exists in any phase—the dipole moment is a property of the molecule itself—so temperature or phase changes don’t remove the polarity. They may alter how strongly water molecules interact with each other (like hydrogen bonding) or how they arrange, but water remains polar in gas, liquid, and solid forms.