Van der Waals forces

Intermolecular attractive or
forces repulsive

What is? But first…

Chemical polarity  separate

electrical charges in its structure.

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Characteristics
• Covalent bonds and ionic bonds are significantly stronger than Van
der Waals forces
• These forces are additive in nature, they are made up of several
individual interactions
• Van der Waals forces are short-range forces. Their magnitude is high
when the atoms/molecules in question are close to each other.

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Classification
• Polar
• Atoms with different electronegativity.
• Nonpolar
• Atoms with electronegativity =.
• Molecular symmetry.

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 Keesom (dipole-dipole).

3 Debye (permanent dipole -

induced dipole).
manifestations

London (induced dipole- induced

dipole).

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Keesom
• Dipole  when there is an asymmetric
distribution of electrons, formed by atoms of
different electronegativity.
• The more polar the greater the difference in
electronegativity between the atoms.

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Debye
• Polar molecule causes a
dipole to form in a polar
molecule.
• Nonpolar molecule becomes
polar, with charges + and -.

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London
• Nonpolar molecules or
among the noble gases.
• Ease in which cloud of
electrons can be distorted.

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Factors affecting
• Number of electrons
• While traversing down a group in the modern periodic table, the atomic radii
of the elements increase along with the number of electrons held by their
respective nuclei.
• Shape of molecule
• Long, unbranched molecules tend to feature stronger dispersion forces than
branched, short-chain molecules.

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Importance
• Thanks to them we can explain adhesion, friction, diffusion, surface
tension and viscosity.
• Van der Waals forces, weak as they are, define the chemical character
of many organic compounds.

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Applications

• It is widely believed that Geckos exploit Van

der Waals forces hanging on to smooth
surfaces with only their toes.
• The attractive forces that arise between the
spatulae of the Gecko’s footpads and the
smooth surface enable the lizard to
effectively climb these surfaces. Similar
biological designs can be observed in some
spiders.
Equation
• R = 0.08206 L atm mol-1 K-1

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 • Real life spider man

Facts • 2014, Defense Advances Research Projects Agency

Geckskin.

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