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Chemistry Forums for Students => High School Chemistry Forum => Topic started by: Zoidberg1201 on June 20, 2020, 01:31:41 PM

Title: Is hydrogen sulphide polar or non-polar?
Post by: Zoidberg1201 on June 20, 2020, 01:31:41 PM

Hi all,
    The difference in electronegativity values between Hydrogen (2.1)and Sulphur (2.5) is only 0.4. Any difference <0.5 is insufficient to create a polar molecule. But some sources say H₂S is a polar molecule.

Could someone please clarify?
Thanks.

Title: Re: Is hydrogen sulphide polar or non-polar?
Post by: Babcock_Hall on June 22, 2020, 02:32:20 PM

There are always going to be cases that fall into a grey zone, and IMO hydrogen sulfide does exactly that.  One thing to consider is that sulfur can participate in hydrogen bonding.

If H₂S loses a proton to a base, how would you describe the polarity of the conjugate base of hydrogen sulphide?

Title: Re: Is hydrogen sulphide polar or non-polar?
Post by: Enthalpy on June 22, 2020, 04:16:02 PM

Electronegativity is a flawed theory. It's normal that predictions based on it fail sometimes.