Is XeO4 Polar or Nonpolar?

XeO4, or xenon tetroxide, is considered a nonpolar molecule despite having polar bonds.

The reason behind this lies in its molecular geometry. XeO4 has a tetrahedral shape due to the four oxygen atoms bonded to the central xenon atom. In a tetrahedral structure, the dipole moments from the polar Xe-O bonds cancel each other out because they are symmetrically arranged around the xenon atom.

This symmetrical arrangement results in an overall nonpolar molecule because the individual polarities of the bonds do not create a net dipole moment. Thus, although the bonds between xenon and oxygen are polar, the molecule itself is nonpolar due to its geometric arrangement.

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