HANDOUT – 4.

3 1st Term (2023-2024)

Name: Class: VIII Roll: Section:

Subject: Chemistry Teachers: Ummamah Amin Date:

Unit 6: Bonding & Structure (Part-03)

Intermolecular force of attraction

Q: What is Van Der Waals forces?

Answer:

Van Der Waals forces are weak attractions that contribute to intermolecular bonding between

molecules. It is the attraction of the nuclei and electron clouds between different atoms. The

nucleus is positively charged, while the electrons around it are negatively charged. When two

atoms are brought close together, the nucleus of one atom attracts the electron cloud of the

other, and vice versa. If the atoms are far apart from each other, the van der Waals force

becomes insignificant. If the atoms come closer together (so that their electron clouds overlap)

the van der Waals force becomes repulsive, because the like charges of the nucleus and electron

cloud repel each other.

This is why they are the sum of the attractive and repulsive forces between neighboring atoms

and molecules in the compound. Due to the random movement of the molecules, they form

temporary negative and positive charges as they approach each other during collisions. This

change is induced to the adjacent molecules and so on. Van Der Waals forces are formed over

short distances between atoms and or molecules; they are not associated with either ionic or

covalent bonds. Van Der Waals forces will increase with increasing number of electrons and

the size of the molecules.

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Q: Explain in terms of intermolecular forces, why Bromine is a liquid at r.t.p whereas iodine

and astatine are solid at r.t.p?

Answer:

Among the halogens in Group 7

 Size of the molecules increases

 Number of electrons increases

 Hence, Van Der Waals forces increases.


Some examples of Van Der Waals forces are hydrogen bonding and dipole-dipole interactions etc.

Q: What is hydrogen bonding? Where in nature is it found?

Answer:

Hydrogen bonds are attractions between partially

positive hydrogen atom from one molecule and

partially negative nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine from

another molecule. It is the strongest intermolecular

force among all other Van Der Waals force of

attractions. Example: (H2O & NH3) etc.

Note: H-NOF is the way to remember where hydrogen bonds can be found.

Hydrogen bonding in nature

 The presence of hydrogen bonds helps in the movement of water through the plant's xylem

and other vessels. Within a vessel, water molecules form hydrogen bond among each other as

well as with the atoms of the cellulose on the cell wall. This mechanism allows plants to pull

water up into their roots.

 Hydrogen bonding is present abundantly in the different structures of proteins. Though they

are relatively weak, these bonds offer great stability to the protein structure because

they repeat a great number of times.

 Hydrogen bonds are abundantly present between the two strands in the structure of the

DNA which helps in the formation and maintenance of the helix.

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 Metallic Bond
Q: Describe metallic bonding as the electrostatic attraction between the positive ions in a giant

metallic lattice and a “sea” of delocalized electrons.

Answer:

 Metal atoms are held together strongly by metallic bonding. Within the metal lattice, the

atoms lose their valence electrons and become positively charged. The valence electrons no

longer belong to any metal atom and are said to be delocalized. They move freely between

the positive metal ions like a sea of electrons.

 Metallic bonds are strong and are a result of the attraction between the positive metal ions

and the negatively charged delocalised electrons.

Q: Describe the Physical properties of metal.

Answer:

Metals have high melting and boiling points.

 There are many strong metallic bonds in giant metallic structures.

 A lot of heat energy is needed to overcome forces and break these bonds.

Metals conduct electricity

 There are free electrons available to move and carry charge.

 Electrons entering one end of the metal cause a delocalised electron to displace itself from

the other end.

 Hence electrons can flow so electricity is conducted.

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Metals are malleable and ductile

 Layers of positive ions can slide over one another and take up different positions.

 Metallic bonding is not disrupted as the valence electrons do not belong to any particular metal

atom so the delocalised electrons will move with them.

 Metallic bonds are thus not broken and as a result metals are strong but flexible.

 They can be hammered and bent into different shapes without breaking.

Summary of the physical properties of metals

Properties Reason

There are many strong metallic bonds in giant metallic structures, so

High melting and A lot of heat energy is needed to overcome forces and break these

boiling point bonds. Therefore, metals have high melting and boiling points.

Metals are good conductors because of free electrons available to

move and carry charge. When a metal is used in an electrical circuit,

Good conductors of electrons entering one end of the metal cause delocalized electrons to

heat and electricity displace it itself from the other end. Hence, electrons can flow so

electricity is conducted.

Layers of positive ions can slide over one another and take up different

positions. This does not disrupt the metaling bonding as the valence

electrons do not belong to any particular metal atom so they can move

Malleable and ductile with the layers of positive ions, maintaining the electrostatic forces.

The metallic bonds are thus not broken and as a result, metallic bonds

are strong but flexible. Therefore, they are be hammered into

different shapes without breaking.

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Q: What are the Factors Affecting the Strength of Metallic Bonds?

Answer:

The factors that affect the strength of a metallic bond include:

 The number of electrons delocalized from the metal: the greater the number of

delocalizedelectrons, the stronger the bond.

 Charge held by the metal cation: the greater the magnitude of the charge, the

strongerthe force of attraction between the electron sea and the cations.

 Size of the cation: the smaller the ionic radius, the greater the attraction of the

positivenucleus acting on the electron sea.

Q: Why Magnesium has a higher Melting point then Sodium?

Answer:

The softness and low melting point of sodium can be explained by the relatively low number

of electrons in the electron sea and the relatively small charge on the sodium cation. For

example, metallic magnesium consists of an array of Mg2+ ions. The electron sea here

contains twice the number of electrons than the one in sodium (since two free electrons are

delocalized into the sea by magnesium). Due to the greater magnitude of charge and the

greater electron density in the sea, the melting point of magnesium (~650oC) is significantly

higher than that of sodium.

Electrical Conductivity

Electrical conductivity is a measure of the ability of a substance to allow a charge to move

through it. Since the movement of electrons is not restricted in the electron sea, any

electric current passed through the metal passes through it, as illustrated below.

When a potential difference is introduced

to the metal, the delocalized electrons start

moving towards the positive charge. This is

the reason why metals are generally good

conductors ofelectric current.

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