Also, the arrangement of the bonded pairs is asymmetric, which makes Dichloromethane polar. Here Hydrogen atom is less electronegative than chlorine atom and hence, there is a net dipole moment in the compound. It also depends on the electronegativity of the molecules participating in the formation of the compound. The polarity of any compound depends on the lone pairs of electrons and symmetry of the compound. The shape of the compound is a trigonal pyramidal. As the hybridization is sp3, the molecular geometry of Dichloromethane becomes tetrahedral. Similarly, one chlorine atom is to the right of Carbon and the other one is one the downward position of the central atom. The arrangement of the molecules in this compound is such that the Carbon atom is in the central atom, one Hydrogen atom is on the upper topmost position and the other one is on the left side of the central atom. It is comparatively easy to understand the molecular geometry of a compound after knowing its Lewis structure and hybridization.

Thus the hybridization of Carbon atom in CH2Cl2 is sp3. An electron from the 22 orbital and three other electrons from 2p orbitals participate in forming bonds. Central Carbon is hybridized as the molecule forms all the four bonds in the compound. The bonds formed in Dichloromethane are covalent bonds. These overlapped orbitals are called hybrid orbitals. When two or molecules participate in the bond formation, their orbitals overlap due to the sharing of electrons. Thus four valence electrons of Carbon, two electrons of Hydrogen and Chlorine each participate in the bond formation. Central carbon atom forms two bonds with both Hydrogen and Chlorine atoms. There are twenty valence electrons in the compound, and four bonds are formed. Total number of Valence electrons = 4 + 2*1 + 2*7 To understand the Lewis structure lets first calculate the total number of valence electrons for Dichloromethane.Ĭarbon has four valence electrons, Hydrogen has one valence electrons and like all halogens, Chlorine has seven valence electrons. When we talk about CH2Cl2, Carbon is less electronegative than Chlorine atoms. In Lewis structure the lines represent the bonds and dots represent the valence electrons. Whereas the ones that do not participate in forming any bonds are called lone pairs of electrons or non-bonding pairs of electrons. The electrons that are involved in bond formation are called bonding pairs of electrons. These electrons include the ones that participate in bond formation as well as the ones that don’t participate in forming bonds. Valence electrons are the sum total of the electrons every molecule has in their outer shell in a compound. To know the lewis structure, it is vital to find the number of valence electrons in the compound. For this compound, there is one molecule of Carbon, two molecules of Hydrogen and two molecules of Chlorine. According to the octet rule, a molecule should have eight electrons in its outer shell to become inert or stable. Lewis structure is a theory that helps in understanding the structure of a given compound, based on the octet rule. Polarity of Dichloromethane CH2Cl2 Lewis structureįor understanding the properties and structure of any chemical compounds, including organic ones, its lewis structure is of the utmost importance.

Ch2cl2 molecular geometry