(17) Intermolecular Bonding

Lesson 10

(17) Intermolecular Bonding

Obj. 17. From the name of a molecular chemical determine the type of intermolecular bonding.

To do that you must first determine the shape and polarity of the molecule. If the molecule is nonpolar, it will have van der Waals intermolecular bonding. If the molecule is polar and does not have hydrogen bonded to nitrogen, oxygen or fluorine, it will have dipole-dipole intermolecular bonding. If the molecule is polar and does have hydrogen bonded to nitrogen, oxygen or fluorine, it will have hydrogen bonding between molecules.

Polarity	Other Qualifications	Intermolecular Bond Type
nonpolar		van der Waals
polar	without H-NOF	dipole-dipole
polar	with H-NOF	hydrogen

Exercises

For each of the following molecular compounds, determine the type of intermolecular bonding.

a. ammonia

b. carbon(II) oxide

c. carbon(IV) chloride

d. hydrogen chloride

e. sulfur dichloride

f. sulfur hexachloride

g. water

Worked-Out Examples (a,b)

(a) Ammonia is the first example. NH₃ is its formula. As you figured out in exercise 16, it has polar molecules. It also has hydrogen bonded to nitrogen, so it has hydrogen bonding.

(b) Carbon(II) oxide has the formula CO. It is also called carbon monoxide. It is a linear molecule with a carbon atom at one end and an oxygen atom at the other end. Therefore it is a polar molecule and it has dipole-dipole intermolecular bonds.

Answers to Exercises

For each of the following molecular compounds, determine the type of intermolecular bonding.

a. ammonia has hydrogen bonding

b. carbon(II) oxide has dipole-dipole bonding

c. carbon(IV) chloride has van der Waals bonding

d. hydrogen chloride has dipole-dipole bonding

e. sulfur dichloride has dipole-dipole bonding

f. sulfur hexachloride has van der Waals bonding

g. water has hydrogen bonding

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