Question

Statement 1: The chlorine atom in HCl develops a partial negative charge and hydrogen atoms develop a partial positive charge.

Statement 2: A chlorine atom with a lower electronegativity attracts the shared pair of electrons towards its nucleus.

• A. Neither statement 1 nor statement 2 is correct
• B. Statement 2 is the correct explanation for statement 1
• C. Only statement 2 is correct
• D. Only statement 1 is correct

Answer 1

The correct option is D

Only statement 1 is correct

The chlorine atom in HCl develops a partial negative charge and hydrogen atoms develop a partial positive charge due to the higher electronegativity of chlorine. This allows chlorine to draw a shared pair of electrons towards it. Such compounds are called polar covalent compounds.