Question

Does CH3Cl have a plane of symmetry?

Answer 1

Yes, `"CH"_3"Cl"` has a plane of symmetry.

Explanation:

In fact, it has three planes of symmetry.

The structure of `"CH"_3"Cl"` is

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If you draw a vertical plane that includes the `"Cl-C"` bond and the closest `"H"`, you will see that the left hand side and the right hand side are mirror images of each other.

And there are two other vertical planes that include the `"Cl-C"` bond and the other two `"H"` atoms.

If we look at methane (`"CH"_4"`), a very similar molecule, Otterbein gallery allows one to generate the symmetry planes (notated on the site as `sigma_d`, with `d` for "dihedral") that are identical to those found in `"CH"_3"Cl"`:

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Or, as a top-down view:

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