Intermolecular Forces

AP Chemistry· difficulty 3/5

Two atoms of different size are shown with their electron clouds (dashed circles indicate distorted clouds).

small atom large atom electron clouds

The larger atom experiences stronger London dispersion because:

  • A

    It is ionic

  • B

    It has a permanent dipole

  • C

    Larger, more polarizable electron cloud allows greater instantaneous dipoles

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  • D

    It forms hydrogen bonds

Explanation

Polarizability scales with atomic size; bigger, looser electron clouds distort more easily, producing larger transient dipoles and stronger LDFs.

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