PROPERTIES OF LIQUIDS AND

SOLIDS AND
INTERMOLECULAR FORCES
Learning Goals and Key Skills:
✓Identify the intermolecular attractive
interactions (dispersion, dipole -dipole,
hydrogen bonding, ion-dipole) that exist
between molecules or ions based on their
composition and molecular structure
✓Be able to compare the relative strengths
of these intermolecular forces
✓Explain the concept of polarizability and
how it relates to dispersion forces
 GAS vs LIQUID and SOLID
In gases, the particles or
molecules are far apart and
the intermolecular forces
between them are weak.

In liquids and solids this

is not true. Instead we
must consider the
intermolecular forces,
i.e., the forces that exist
between atoms and
molecules.
Strength of Intermolecular Attractions
 STATES OF MATTER
The STATE of a substance depends largely on the
balance between:
– The kinetic energy of the particles
– The strength of the attractions between the particles
The fundamental difference between states of matter
is the distance between particles.

Because in the solid and liquid states particles are closer

together, we refer to them as CONDENSED PHASES
 INTERMOLECULAR FORCES
The strengths of intermolecular forces in different
substances vary over a wide range but are generally much
weaker than intramolecular forces—ionic, metallic or
covalent bonds
 INTERMOLECULAR FORCES
•Many properties of liquids, including BOILING POINTS and MELTING
POINTS, reflect the strength of the intermolecular forces.
•The molecules of the liquid must overcome their attractive forces in
order to separate and form a vapor.
•The stronger the attractive forces, the higher the temperature at
which the liquid boils.
• Similarly, the melting points of solids increase as the strengths of
the intermolecular forces increase.
 INTERMOLECULAR FORCES

•All intermolecular interactions are ELECTROSTATIC,

involving attractions between positive and negative
species, much like ionic bonds.
•The strength of these intermolecular forces is directly
related to the melting/boiling points, enthalpy of fusion,
enthalpy of vaporization, and solubility of the substances.
 DISPERSION FORCES
•The instantaneous dipole on one atom can induce an
instantaneous dipole on an adjacent atom, causing the atoms to
be attracted to each other. This attractive interaction is called
the DISPERSION FORCE (or the London dispersion force in some
texts).
•It is significant only when molecules are very close together.
 DISPERSION FORCES
•These induced dipoles lead to intermolecular attractions. This is
how nonpolar gas molecules (e.g. He, N2, etc.) can liquefy.
•The ease with which the electron distribution in a molecule is
distorted is called its POLARIZABILITY.
•In general, polarizability increases as the number of electrons in
an atom or molecule increases.
•The strength of dispersion forces therefore tends to increase
with increasing atomic or molecular size.
 Factors Affecting Dispersion Forces
• The SHAPE of the molecule affects the dispersion
forces: long, thin molecules (like n-pentane tend to
have stronger dispersion forces than short, round ones
(like neopentane).
• This is due to the increased surface area in n-
pentane.
 Polar Covalent Bonds and
Electronegativity

Although atoms often form

compounds by sharing
electrons, the electrons are
not always shared equally.

ELECTRONEGATIVITY is
the ability of atoms in a
molecule to attract
electrons to itself.
 DIPOLE-DIPOLE FORCES
❑The presence of a permanent dipole moment in polar
molecules gives rise to dipole -dipole forces.
❑These forces originate from electrostatic attractions
between the partially positive end of one molecule and
partially negative end of a neighboring molecule.
❑Repulsions can also occur when the positive (or negative)
ends of two molecules are in close proximity.
 DIPOLE-DIPOLE FORCES
For molecules of approximately equal mass and size, the
strength of intermolecular attractions increases with
increasing polarity.
•The boiling points of the compounds containing group 4A elements
(CH4 through SnH4, all nonpolar) increase systematically moving
down the group.
• This is the expected trend because polarizability and dispersion forces
generally increase as molecular weight increases.
•The three heavier members of groups 5A, 6A, and 7A follow the same
trend, but NH3, H2O, and HF have boiling points that are much higher
than expected. This is due to HYDROGEN BONDING.
 HYDROGEN BONDING
A special type of intermolecular attraction between the
hydrogen atom in a polar bond (particularly H-F, H-O, and H-N)
and nonbonding electron pair on a nearby small
electronegative ion or atom usually F, O, or N (in another
molecule)
HYDROGEN BONDING
• Because hydrogen bonds
are generally stronger
than dipole–dipole or
dispersion forces, they
play important roles in
many chemical systems,
including those of
biological significance.
•For example, hydrogen
bonds help stabilize the
structures of proteins and
are also responsible for the
way that DNA is able to
carry genetic information.
 ION-DIPOLE FORCES
•An ion–dipole force exists between an ion and a polar molecule.
•Cations are attracted to the negative end of a dipole, and anions
are attracted to the positive end.
•The magnitude of the attraction increases as either the ionic
charge or the magnitude of the dipole moment increases.
•Ion–dipole forces are especially important for solutions of ionic
substances in polar liquids, such as a solution of NaCl in water.
Activity
1.) What happens to the degree of dipole-dipole
interaction as the polarity of the molecules increases?
2.) Most nonpolar substances exist in the gaseous state. I2
is nonpolar but exist in the solid state at room
temperature. Explain why I2 is solid?
3.) Identify the type of IMF that exist between molecules
of the following substances:
3.1. CH4 3.2. CH3CH2CH2CH2OH 3.3. Cl2
4.) The boiling point of a substance gives us an idea as to
the type of IMF it has. Arrange the following in the order
of increasing boiling point, taking into consideration the
strength of interaction between the particles.
F2, NaCl, H2S
1.) The attraction between the
molecules will be stronger, resulting in
increased dipole-dipole interaction.
2.) I2 is easily induced into a temporary
dipole because it has a relatively high
molecular weight, which makes the
attraction between iodine molecules
stronger. The molecules are closer to
each other, making it a solid.
3.) a. Methane is nonpolar molecule.
Hence, the only intermolecular
attractions are London dispersion. b.)
Butanol has a hydrogen atom attached
to an oxygen atom. Therefore, you
expect hydrogen bonding. Because the
molecule is polar (from the O –H
bond). London forces also exist
because such exist between all
molecules. c.) London dispersion
5.) Decide what type of intermolecular force
is involved in each case and place the
interaction in order of increasing strength:
a.)CH4 …… CH4 ; H2O …… H3COH ; LiCl ……. H2O

b.) N2 …… N2; MgSO4 …… H2O

6.) Why do compounds
with strong IMF have
higher boiling points than
compounds with weak
IMF?
 Properties of IMF

Liquids are made up of particles that are close together

to each other and have kinetic energy. The particles are
not confined to a rigid position and they move, but can
only travel at a short distance before they collide with
each other and change the direction of motion.

Since the molecules flows, they take the shape of the

container and diffuse moderately to occupy a fixed
volume. Since they occupy a fixed volume and the
particles are attached to each other, liquids have
moderately high density. They also have low
compressibility and thermal expansion.
• The KE of the molecules is
not sufficient enough to
make the molecules break
away from their neighbor
and thus, the particles are
joined by IMF.
• Most liquids exist as
molecules at room
temperature. The physical
properties of liquids
depend on the type and
nature of the different
intermolecular forces.
 • It is the property of a liquid to resist an
external force and thus assume a
lesser area. This is the property that
would explain why water strider can
walk on the surface of the water, the
spherical in shape of the drop of liquid,
and needle suspended on the surface
Surface of water.
• Surface tension is a property of liquid
Tension that has no counterpart in solids and
gases. It is the amount of energy
required to increase the surface area
of the liquid by a unit area. The
stronger the intermolecular forces exist
in the liquid, the greater the surface
tension.
 • Temperature directly affects
Surface surface tension. An increase
in temperature weakens
Tension the force of attraction
between particles.
 Surface
tension –
molecules at
the surface
form stronger
bond
 Water form a
spherical shape
due to surface
tension
 Water strider
can walk in on
the surface of
water due to
surface
tension
Since the IMF vary in nature of strength,
surface tension is different for different
liquids.

Water has high surface tension

because of its ability to form a
hydrogen bond.

Temperature affects surface tension. An increase in the

liquid’s temperature causes the weakening of the force
of attraction. There is, therefore, less force needed to
break through the surface of the molecules. This
decreases surface tension.
 Viscosity

A liquid’s resistance
When maple syrup is The greater the
(friction) to flow exists
poured, it flows because it
between the molecules of resistance in flowing,
is liquid. Water on the
a liquid when they move the more viscous the
other hand, flows quickly
past each other is called liquid is.
and easily.
viscosity.

The difference in The liquid with low IMF

viscosity between allows a freer movement
the two liquids is a of its molecules and,
measure of their therefore, has lower
viscosity.
IMF.
• An increase in temperature
causes the KE to increase. Heat
breaks the IMF causing the
liquid molecules to move
faster.
• This makes the molecules flow
more readily. Therefore, an
increase in temperature
decreases viscosity.
 Vapor Pressure
The vapor pressure of the liquid is the
partial pressure of the vapor over the
liquid, measured at equilibrium at a
given temperature. When a liquid or a
solid substance is made to evaporate
in a closed container, the gas exerts a
pressure above the liquid. A
substance with relatively strong
intermolecular force of attraction has
low vapor pressure since particles
have the difficulty escaping as a gas.
• For instance, at 25◦C, H2O (hydrogen
bond) has a vapor pressure of 0.03 atm,
while ethyl ether (dipole-dipole and
dispersion force) has a vapor pressure of
0.68 atm. The vapor pressure is a measure
of the tendency of a material to change
into the gaseous or vapor state, and it
increases with temperature. When
temperature of vapor pressure at the
surface of a liquid becomes equal to the
pressure exerted by the surroundings, it
becomes the boiling point of the liquid.
 Boiling Point

• It is the temperature of the liquid at

which its vapor pressure is equal to the
external or atmospheric pressure.
When the temperature of the liquid is
increased, the kinetic energy of
particles also increases until it weakens
and exceed the intermolecular forces of
attraction that hold them together. The
liquid molecules then changes to gas
which can be observed by the bubbles
that rise to the surface of the liquid and
escape in the atmosphere. The normal
boiling point is the temperature at
which a liquid boils under an
atmospheric pressure of 1 atm (760
mm Hg).
Boiling points of different substances
 Heat of Vaporization
• The molar heat of vaporization is the amount of heat
needed to vaporize one mole of a substance at its boiling
point. When heat is added the intermolecular forces of
attraction is disrupted allowing the liquid molecules to
vaporize. The boiling point increases as molar heat of
vaporization increases. The amount of heat needed to
vaporize a given amount of liquid at its boiling point is
called heat of vaporization. For water, the amount of heat
needed to vaporize one mole of water (18 grams) is 40.7 kJ
or 540 cal/gram at the same temperature and one
atmospheric pressure.
• The kinetic energy of the molecules remain constant even if
heat is added to the liquid. The stronger the intermolecular
forces of attraction exist in substances, the higher the heat
of vaporization because the higher energy is required to
transform them into gaseous phase.
 Molar Heat of Vaporization for Selected Liquids
Substance Boiling Point (◦C) ∆Hvap (kJ/mol)
Argon (Ar) -186.0 6.3
Methane (CH4) -164.0 9.2
Diethyl ether 34.6 26.0
(C2H5OC2H5)
Ethanol (C2H5OH) 78.3 39.3
Water (H2O) 100.0 40.8
 Structure and Properties of Water
Our planet is made up of about 71 percent water. The oceans hold about 96.5 percent of all
Earth's water and 3.5 percent is freshwater but mostly is frozen water locked up in glaciers and
in polar ice caps. The following are the properties of water.

1. Water has a high boiling point due to the strong intermolecular forces of attraction (H-
bonding) which explains why water is liquid at room temperature.

2. It has high specific heat that can absorb and release large quantities of heat without change
in temperature. This explains why body temperature remains 37◦C even when there’s a change
in the temperature of the surrounding.

3. It has high density in liquid form. It is the only substance that contracts when cooled
decreases in volume and becomes denser.

4. It has high surface tension due to the hydrogen bond exists between molecules.

5. It has high heat of vaporization which means large amount of heat is needed to vaporize a
given amount of water.
 Ice Density: Hydrogen bonding makes ice
The Hydrogen bonding in less dense than liquid water. The (a)
lattice structure of ice makes it less
water dense than the freely flowing molecules
of liquid water, enabling it to (b) float on
water
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