How does methane's structure result in it being non polar?

Question

Carbon is more electronegative than Hyrogen

shouldn't this result in methane being a polar compound

my teacher says methane is non polar because of its tetrahedral structure. how does methane's structure contribute to it being non polar?

Answer 1

Well, actually since the carbon atom is sharing all of its electrons with the hydrogen atoms, carbon's electronegativity is no longer a factor.

Essentially, all of the electrons are evenly distributed about the molecule.

Here's a picture:

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/biolog...

Answer 2

althought every C-H has a dipole moment, all the four dipole moments cancel themselves out. Just like pulling the rope in opposite directions..

Answer 3

methane is carbon with 4 hydrogens. yes, the bonds are polar, but since the structure is symmetrical, it makes them pull on eachother equally, making it nonpolar.

   H

    l

H-C-H

    l

   H

dunno if that diagram will work.... but the opposite H's cancel eachother out.

make it a good day.