why is water a polar molecule

Water is a polar molecule primarily due to the unequal sharing of electrons between its oxygen and hydrogen atoms and its bent molecular shape. Oxygen is more electronegative than hydrogen, so it pulls the shared electrons in the covalent bonds closer to itself, making the oxygen end slightly negative and the hydrogen ends slightly positive. This creates a dipole with positive and negative poles. Moreover, the bent shape of the water molecule (approximately 106.5° angle) ensures that the dipoles do not cancel out, resulting in an overall polar molecule with distinct positive and negative ends.