Polarity is the tendency of electrons in a molecule to pull to one side of the molecule. This is caused by one of the periodic trends, electronegativity. If there is a large difference in electronegativity between the atoms in a compound, the electrons will pull to one side causing polarity.
Polarity is not found in molecules with symmetrical geometry. Water is bent, also being polar.
Okay this is the most confusing part of bonding... INTER or INTRA?
Let's start with inter-
Intermolecular bonds are formed between MOLECULES of a compound, that is, either a compound bonds with itself or another compound... NOT AN ELEMENT. Example: two H2O molecules form a hydrogen bond.
Intramolecular bonds, however, form between the elements that make up a compound. These are usually either ionic or covalent. Example: two oxygens bond to one hydrogen atom covalently.
We have learned about bonds in class for a couple of days, and one thing that I found interesting is the way elements bond to form compounds and then those compounds bond together to themselves. Water is a pretty cool example, you can see in this diagram the hydrogen bonds:
You can see the Covalent bonds between H and O and also the intermolecular Hydrogen bond.
