Question

The van der Waals limit

Answer 1

Van der Waals forces are basically inter molecular forces which are also called as induced dipole forces. When two non polar molecules approach each other, their electron clouds gets distorted due to repulsion and individual molecule has an induced dipole because of temporary polarization phenomenon.

A bulkier molecule with large surface area will have higher van der Waals forces than a small size molecule and, due to which , the bulkier molecule will have a higher boiling point.

The limitation og Van der Waals forces are that it is weak when we compared to dipole-dipole interactions and other forces hydrogen bonding, and they are quite weaker than covalent and also than ionic bonds.