Permanent Dipole Moments arise when the electronegativity of two atoms in a molecule differs significantly. The atom with the higher electronegativity will attract more electrons, resulting in a partial negative charge surrounding it and a partial positive charge around the atom with the lower electronegativity. Molecules possessing persistent dipole moments, as opposed to dipole moments generated by other molecules, are simply polar molecules. They're significant because a molecule's polarity influences many of its characteristics and interactions with other molecules.