Answer: letter C (He, Ne, N2, CO2, CO, H2O)
Step-by-step explanation:
The question requires us to choose the option which represents the correct order of increasing intermolecular forces, considering the compounds water (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen gas (N2), neon (Ne) and helium (He).
Among the compounds given, both Ne and He should present the weakest intermolecular forces as they are noble gases and present only weak dispersion forces.
On the other hand, H2O should present the strongest intermolecular forces among the compounds given, as it presents polar O-H bonds which leads to hydrogen bonding (a "special" type of dipole-dipole interaction).
Now that we have the weakest and strongest intermolecular forces defined, we can analyze the intermediary ones: comparing CO2 and CO, we can say sthat CO will present intermolecular dipole-dipole interaction (because it is a polar molecule), while CO2, being a symmetric and non-polar molecule (the central C is bonded to two O atoms), presents only weak intermolecular forces. Similarly to CO2, N2 is a non-polar molecule and it only presents weak intermolecular forces.
Therefore, we can rank the molecules given in order of increasing molecular forces as:
Ne and He, N2 and CO2, CO, H2O
Considering the points above, the best option to answer this question is letter C.