Question

Explain London forces with the help of suitable examples.

Answer 1

Hint: London forces come under the category of the intermolecular forces i.e. the forces between the two forces and are the weakest but the attractive forces between the molecules and exist in every type of molecule. Now from this you can easily describe the London forces by giving examples along with it.

Complete step by step answer:
The London forces are the intermolecular forces. Now first of all. Let’s discuss what intermolecular forces are. By the intermolecular forces, we mean those forces which are present or exist between the two different molecules.
London forces are named so, after the name of the scientist Fritz London, who first discovered these forces.
London forces are the Vander Waals forces which are the weakest intermolecular forces between the two molecules and are also known as the dispersion forces.
These forces exist between every category of molecules irrespective of the fact that whether the molecule is polar or nonpolar in nature , ionic or covalent in nature.
Due to these forces, the molecules condense to liquids at higher temperature and when the temperature is lowered, it changes the molecules from liquid to solid state i.e. it freezes the molecules.
Examples of these forces include the noble gases like argon, neon, krypton etc., halogens like chlorine, fluorine, bromine etc., non-polar molecules like methane etc.

Note: London forces are weak in case of the small atoms because in them they have less electrons and they are bound very tightly to the nucleus and can’t move properly. On the contrary, they are strong in case of the bigger atoms because in them they have more electrons which are not very tightly bound to the nucleus and can easily move around.