Is my ATmega broken, and would replacing it with another break that one, too? I was communicating between my computer and my Arduino Uno R3 through Bluetooth using this Bluetooth module. The connector I use has a red wire where it connects to GND, and a black wire where it connects to +5V.


  

                ↓        ↓  to Uno ↓       ↓
               +5V      GND       pin 0  pin 1



I forgot this one time when I connected the Bluetooth module to the Uno, so the polarity was reversed. This fried the Bluetooth module.

After getting a new module, I discovered that the Uno was apparently fried too. Plugging a USB cable into the Uno made the little green integrated LED turn on, but that was all that happened; none of the pins put out any electricity. When I tried to upload a program, it gave the infamous avrdude: stk500_getsync(): not in sync: resp=0x00 error. I could upload programs to my other Uno fine, and I could not upload to the broken Uno on my other computer.

Two of the Arduino experts I know told me that the ATmega328 chip might be the only broken part. Is this likely to be the case? I have an Uno R2 with a working ATmega328. Would temporarily replacing the R3's ATmega with that R2's ATmega have a change of damaging anything?
Besides breaking a pin while removing the IC from its socket, or static electricity during manipulation, I don't see what could fry the ATmega. 

However, it is possible that the R2 ATmega has a different bootloader and that may be an issue.

If I was you I would just remove the ATmega from the R3 board and test it on a breadboard (don't need a lot of components to do that); at least that could tell you if it is fried or if it is the R3 board that is fried...