Is ClO3- Polar or Nonpolar?

Chlorate anion is the chemical name of ClO3- where the oxidation state of the chlorine atom is +5. The chemical compounds that contain ClO3- anion are referred to as chlorate.

The compounds formed by chlorate anion are mostly salt. Potassium chlorate (KClO3), sodium chlorate (NaClO3), magnesium chlorate Mg(ClO3)2 are some of the examples of chlorate salts. They are relatively toxic but mostly form harmless chloride after reduction.

In the laboratory, metal chlorates are prepared by heating metal hydroxides with chlorine.

2 Cl2 + 6 KOH → 5 KCl + KClO3 + 3 H2O

Here in this article, we are going to discuss the polarity of chlorate anion, whether it is polar or nonpolar but before that get some ideas about what polar and nonpolar molecules are:

Polar Molecule

If there are polar bonds present within the molecule and the induced charges on each bond are not canceling each other, there is a net dipole charge on the molecule. Such molecules are called polar molecules.

Some of the examples of polar molecules are Hydrogen chloride (HCl), Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Ammonia (NH3), Water (H2O), etc.

Nonpolar Molecule

Nonpolar molecules are defined as the molecules that have a net dipole moment zero. If there are no charge induced on the molecule and the molecule contains covalent bonds are called nonpolar molecules.

Some of the examples of nonpolar molecules are Methane (CH4), Carbon dioxide (CO2), Homonuclear diatomic molecules (H2, N2, F2, Cl2, etc.)

Checkout: Difference Between Polar & Nonpolar Molecules With Examples [In Detailed].

So, Is ClO3- polar or nonpolar? ClO3- is a polar molecule despite Cl-O bonds are nonpolar in nature because the molecular geometry of chlorate anion is trigonal pyramidal which is not a symmetrical structure so that the induced individual Cl-O polar charges do not cancel each other as well as it has already one negative charge presented on the molecule.

ClO3- Polar or Nonpolar (Detailed Explanation)

These are some of the major aspects on which polarity of the molecules are used to determine:

Electronegativity difference

Electronegativity is a tendency of an atom to attract sharing pairs of electrons. Higher the electronegativity value, the atom will be more powerful to attract shared pair of electrons which results in the induction of partial positive and negative charges at the end.

According to the Pauli scale, if the electronegativity difference between two atoms in a molecule is higher than 0.4, it will be a nonpolar bond.

In the ClO3-, the Cl-O bonds are considered nonpolar because the electronegativity difference between oxygen (3.44) and chlorine (3.16) is 0.28 but it has already a negative charge present which makes it a polar molecule.

Lewis Structure of ClO3-

Lewis dot structure of any molecule is defined as a simple pictorial representation of the total valence shell electrons present on the molecule. It helps to determine structure, shape, bond nature, polarity, and many more aspects of the particular compound.

ClO3- has a total of 26 valence electrons; 7 of chlorine, 18 of three oxygen, and 1 of the negative charge which is used to make Lewis dot structure.

Molecular Geometry of ClO3-

Molecular geometry is the stable shape of the molecule in which molecules exist. It shows how the molecules exist which helps to determine different physical and chemical properties of the molecules.

ClO3- has a trigonal pyramidal geometry due to the presence of 1 lone pair of electrons on central Cl atom and three σ (sigma) bonds within the molecule. This means chlorate anions molecules are not symmetrical and so their induced polarity charges are also do not cancel.

Dipole Moment of ClO3-

Dipole moment is defined as the product of induced charge (Q) and the distance between the atoms (d).

Dipole moment = Charge(Q) * distance between atoms (d)

Dipole moment is a vector quantity. This is the major aspects for any compound to be polar or nonpolar. If the molecule has zero dipole moment, that will be nonpolar and if has a value, it will be polar.

In the case of ClO3-, the dipole moment can’t be zero as the molecule does not have a symmetrical structure. This is one of the major reasons why chlorate anions are polar in nature.

Conclusion

ClO3- is a polar molecule as it has a trigonal pyramidal shape which means the molecule is not symmetrical so that the induced charges on either end of the Cl-O bond are not canceled, and the molecule has a net dipole moment.

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