MOLECULAR POLARITYFIELD NOTE 158 / 175
Is SF4 polar or nonpolar?
SF4 is polar because one sulfur lone pair leaves four S–F bonds in an asymmetric seesaw.
Sulfur Tetrafluoride · seesaw
The molecule in space
Drag to turn the molecule. Show angles to read the model geometry.
01 / MODEL RECORDPubChem 3D coordinates. Atom sizes and bond thickness are illustrative.How model data is used ↗
Why SF4 is polar
Sulfur has four S–F bonding regions and one lone pair in the conventional VSEPR model. The equatorial lone pair makes the four fluorine positions a seesaw rather than a symmetric tetrahedron, so the dipoles do not fully cancel.
What to notice
SF4 and SF6 both have polar S–F bonds. The seesaw of SF4 is polar, while the six opposite pairs of octahedral SF6 cancel.
Common questions about SF4
- 01
What does the Lewis structure of SF4 show?
The conventional sketch gives S four single bonds to F and one lone pair. Each F has three lone pairs.
- 02
What is the molecular geometry of SF4?
SF4 has a seesaw molecular geometry. The 3D model shows representative bond angles of 109.5°. These angles come from the displayed model coordinates.
- 03
What is the molar mass of SF4?
SF4 has an approximate molar mass of 108.05 g/mol, calculated from its formula using abridged standard atomic weights. Natural isotope variation can change the last digits.