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Van der Waals bonding is the process by which molecules are attracted to each other, via electrostatic forces. These intermolecular attractions are weaker than both ionic and covalent bonding. However, from these forces it is determined whether a compound is a solid, liquid, or gas at STP and whether a compound is soluble in an aqueous system.
Bonding through the van der Waals forces occurs through dipole interactions. Dipolar molecules are the types of molecules involved in this type of bonding. In dipolar molecules, the electronegativity difference between the covalently bonded atoms exceeds or equals 0.4 but is less than or equal to 2.0. This difference in electronegativity causes the electrons of the molecule to become inequally distributed. The atoms within the molecule that have the higher electronegativity attract the electrons from those with less electronegativity. This gives the atom with the higher electronegativity acquire a slightly negative charge, denoted by δ-. The atoms with less electronegativity acquire a slightly positive charge, denoted by δ+ These regions of the molecules are magnetically attracted to the oppositely charged regions of other dipolar molecules. In this way, the dipolar molecules are bonded to one another, and it is this bonding that constitutes van der Waals bonding.
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