Why does symmetry in a molecule cancel out the effect of any dipoles?

I gather that when a molecule is symmetrical, ie CCl4 then the C-Cl dipoles cancel each other out so the molecule has no overall dipole. This does sort of make some sense, however why does it actually work?





Thanks

Why does symmetry in a molecule cancel out the effect of any dipoles?
Dipole moment is a vector quantity.(other exs--.force, etc)


vectors are added not by normal addition(i.e 1+1=2)


but by vector addition as a vector not only is described by its magnitude(i.e 1,2,3 etc) but also by its DIRECTION.


In CCl4 the symmetry is such that all the individual dipoles of C-Cl cancel out each other.(tetarhedral structure)


an example of this can be 2 ppl pulling the sam rope at opp ends with the same force.