Van Der Waals Forces Flashcards, test questions and answers

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What is Van Der Waals Forces?

Van der Waals forces are a type of intermolecular force that exists between molecules. These forces are relatively weak compared to other intermolecular forces, but they still play an important role in a variety of physical and biological processes. The Van der Waals force is named after Dutch physicist Johannes Diderik van der Waals, who first proposed the concept in 1873. The Van der Waals force is caused by two factors: (1) the attractive force between instantaneous dipoles created by fluctuating electron distribution within molecules and (2) the repulsive force due to overlap of electron orbitals when two atoms or molecules come close together. The attractive component of this intermolecular force is called London dispersion forces, while the repulsive component is often referred to as steric effects or Pauli repulsion. These weak Van der Waals forces can be found in many different types of materials, including liquids and gases. They play an important role in surface tension, viscosity, elasticity, adhesion and cohesive interactions between particles or surfaces. In addition to these physical properties, Van der Waal’s forces also play an essential role in chemical bonding and biological processes like enzyme catalysis and membrane permeability. Van Der Waal’s Forces are important for many applications such as drug delivery systems where they help attach drugs to cell surfaces; nanotechnology which relies on controlling small scale interactions for precision assembly; molecular electronics where controlled molecular bonding can be used for information processing; as well as other fields such as food science where the ability to control interactions between cells allows for improved food production processes. Overall, Van Der Waal’s Forces are incredibly versatile and provide us with insights into how matter behaves at its most fundamental level beyond traditional chemical bonds like covalent or ionic bonds which form more rigid structures that cannot easily be manipulated outside their original state without breaking them apart completely