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Intermolecular forces are forces of attraction between molecules.True or false!!

User Merope
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1 Answer

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Step 1 - Understanding intermolecular forces and chemical bonds

There are two main interactions in chemistry: intermolecular forces and chemical bonds. The main difference between them is the distance between the atoms that are interacting.

A chemical bond may be ionic, covalent or metallic. It happens within the atoms or ions in a molecule. It thus keeps a molecule together.

Intermolecular forces, on the contrary, operate at higher distances, and they may be dipole-dipole or nonpolar interactions. They keep molecules together.

Let's take, as an example, the molecule of water:

As we know, the molecule of water is H2O, two H atoms and one O atom. The O-H atoms are bonded together. This is a chemical bond. But in a glass of water, as we could expect, there are over 10^23 molecules of water. They are kept together by an intermolecular force: hydrogen bonding.

Step 2 - Checking whether the statement is true

As we have seen in step 1, intermolecular forces do are forces of attraction between molecules. The statement is thus true.

Intermolecular forces are forces of attraction between molecules.True or false!!-example-1
User Tarik Mokafih
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