Which of the following compounds possesses zero dipole moment?

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Water

Benzene

Boron trifluoride

Carbon tetrachloride

answer is B, C, D.

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Detailed Solution

Carbon tetrachloride molecule has zero dipole moment even though C and Cl have different electronegativities and each of the C - Cl bond is polar and has some dipole moment.
This is because, the individual dipole moments cancel out because of the symmetrical tetrahedral shape of the molecule.
In benzenes molecule carbon and hydrogen have distinct electronegativities, so it has the symmetrical planar structure.
It has six C-H bonds or six dipole moments, that cancel out another one, and therefore the net dipole moment is zero.
The zero dipole moment of BF₃ is because of its symmetrical (triangular planar) structure.
The three fluorine atoms lie at the corners of an equilateral triangle with a boron at the center.
BF₃ molecule is formed by bonding between three sp² orbitals of B and p orbital of 3 F atoms.

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