The intermolecular forces of attraction include dipole-dipole attractions, London forces, and hydrogen bonds.

London forces are actually a weak form of dipole-dipole attraction, while hydrogen bonds are an especially strong type of dipole-dipole attraction. Molecules that have strong forces of attraction usually have higher boiling points and higher melting points than do molecules with a similar mass and weaker attractions. Dipole-dipole attractions occur between polar molecules. In a polar molecule, one end (or pole) of the molecule is positively charged and the other end (the second pole) is negatively charged. These two oppositely charged poles form a dipole. The positive part of each polar molecule attracts the negative part of its neighboring molecules, and the negative part of each polar molecule attracts the positive part of its neighboring molecules. The more polar the molecules of a solid or liquid are, the stronger the attractive forces are between them and the harder it is to separate them. Molecules that are more polar tend to have higher melting points and boiling points than those of molecules that are less polar. Water, methanol (an alcohol), and ammonia are polar molecules that have dipole-dipole attractions. London forces affect all molecules. London forces are also called induced dipole attractions or van der Waals forces. These attractions occur when nonpolar molecules become polar for a short time. Nonpolar molecules can briefly become polar because their electrons are in constant motion. This motion is usually balanced, or symmetrical, around a nonpolar molecule. If the electrons are briefly disturbed, however, their negative charge may increase at one part of the molecule, creating a positive charge on another part of the molecule. In such a case, the molecule becomes a dipole until the electrons rebalance. During the brief time that the molecule is a dipole, its charges can disturb electrons in neighboring molecules, turning them into dipoles as well. These temporary dipoles attract each other. For nonpolar molecules, such as methane and nitrogen molecules, the only intermolecular attractions are London forces. These forces are fairly weak, and therefore, nonpolar substances have low melting and boiling points. Many nonpolar substances are gases at room temperature. Hydrogen bonds are an especially strong form of dipole-dipole attraction. They only occur between molecules containing hydrogen and elements that are highly electronegative, such as fluorine, oxygen, and nitrogen. A hydrogen atom has one positively charged proton in its nucleus and one electron. In molecules with hydrogen bonds, the strongly electronegative atom forms a covalent bond with hydrogen. In this bond, the electronegative atom pulls the bonding electrons very close, almost stripping the hydrogen atom of its one electron so that it becomes a bare proton. This arrangement leaves the hydrogen atom with a relatively large positive charge and the electronegative atom with a relatively large negative charge. The positively charged hydrogen atom attracts a negatively charged fluorine, oxygen, or nitrogen atom on a neighboring molecule or on the same molecule, thus creating a hydrogen bond. Microsoft Encarta 2007. 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.