Why does the presence of lone pair electrons contribute to the polarity of a water molecule?

Lone pairs on oxygen repel the bonding electron pairs, pushing the O–H bonds into a bent shape rather than a straight line. Because oxygen attracts the shared electrons more strongly than hydrogen, each O–H bond is polar. In the bent molecule, the bond dipoles do not cancel, so water has an overall polarity; “They prevent the atoms from forming a linear molecule” is the correct choice.

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