My professor stated the following statement:
In a covalent bond, there is a presence of a partial charge in the atoms that combine to form a compound. For example in $\ce{H2O}$, since $\ce{O}$ is more electronegative, therefore there is a presence of a partial negative charge around $\ce{O}$. Similarly, as $\ce{H}$ is less electronegative, it has a presence of a partial positive charge around it. These partial charges are very feeble.
I found this statement to be little incomplete. So, I decided to find the reason of this partial charge. One of the video that talked about partial charges stated this:
Since $\ce{O}$ is more electronegative than $\ce{H}$, therefore the shared electrons tend to spend more time around $\ce{O}$ than $\ce{H}$ and this is the reason of the partial charges.
Now, my questions are:
- If the shared electrons spend more time around $\ce{O}$ then it means that for some time $\ce{O}$ will be negatively charged and for some time $\ce{H}$. If this holds true, then why do we say that there is presence of partial charges around the atoms instead of saying that there is a presence of complete charge around the atoms but the charges keep on changing?
- What does my professor mean by 'feeble' charges? Is the charge reduced or something else?
If the question is unclear, ask me to edit it in comments.