2. Bonding moments. Dipole moments of molecules

When two bonded atoms have different electronegativities (see article Properties of the elements ), the more electronegative atom carries a negative partial charge and the other atom an equal but positive partial charge, hence the existence of a dipole moment carried by the bond, called the bonding moment. This parameter defines the partial ionic character of a covalent bond.

We would then be dealing with an ionic bond and the atoms would carry the full charges + │e │ and - │e │, instead of the partial charges...