Question

Polarity of bonds and molecules...

Answer 1

What am I doing wrong?

Answer 2

@aaronq @abb0t

Answer 3

Thanks for looking.

Answer 4

For a bond like: Cl-Be

the bond itself is actually polar, (ionic in fact), but the molecule (formula unit):

Cl-Be-Cl

is not because the individual dipoles cancel out.

Answer 5

So that is where the electroneg. comes in. Are the others off too?

Answer 6

yeah, you can look at the differences in electronegativity to tell if the bond is polar (or polarized). The overall geometry determines whether or not the molecule is polar.