# Dipoles In a [[Chemical Bonds|polar covalent bond]] the electrons within the bond are not shared equally due to the differing electronegativity between the atoms. This separation is called a **dipole moment** and are often the reason why reactions occur in the first place ### Temporary Dipoles It's important to remember that *electrons are constantly in motion* This random motion of electrons within their orbitals has the chance to randomly produce differences in the [[electronegativity]] of a system. - These differences would be extremely small and only exist *temporarily* When the when determining the polarity of a molecule or the formal charge of an atom, these can be viewed as "approximations" of the behavior of electrons within the molecule. Even if a molecule does not have any polarity, it's possible that by pure chance electrons will