Which of the following best explains why SO₂ possesses a permanent dipole moment whereas CO₂ does not?
a) Sulfur is more electronegative than oxygen, making SO2 polar, whereas carbon is less electronegative than oxygen in CO2.
b) A lone pair of electrons on the sulfur atom in SO2 creates an uneven charge distribution, while the central carbon atom in CO2 has no lone pair.
c) SO2 has a bent geometry that prevents cancellation of its S–O bond dipoles, whereas CO2 is linear so its bond dipoles cancel.
d) Because SO2 has resonance structures with unequally distributed charges, but the resonance forms of CO2 are completely symmetric.