van der Waals force

In molecular physics, the van der Waals force, named after Dutch scientist Johannes Diderik van der Waals, is a distance-dependent interaction between atoms or molecules. Unlike ionic or covalent bonds, these attractions do not result from a chemical electronic bond; they are comparatively weak and therefore more susceptible to disturbance. The van der Waals force quickly vanishes at longer distances between interacting molecules. U ( z ; R 1 , R 2 ) = − A 6 ( 2 R 1 R 2 z 2 − ( R 1 + R 2 ) 2 + 2 R 1 R 2 z 2 − ( R 1 − R 2 ) 2 + ln ⁡ [ z 2 − ( R 1 + R 2 ) 2 z 2 − ( R 1 − R 2 ) 2 ] ) {displaystyle {egin{aligned}&U(z;R_{1},R_{2})=-{frac {A}{6}}left({frac {2R_{1}R_{2}}{z^{2}-(R_{1}+R_{2})^{2}}}+{frac {2R_{1}R_{2}}{z^{2}-(R_{1}-R_{2})^{2}}}+ln left ight)end{aligned}}}     (1)   U ( r ; R 1 , R 2 ) = − A R 1 R 2 ( R 1 + R 2 ) 6 r {displaystyle U(r;R_{1},R_{2})=-{frac {AR_{1}R_{2}}{(R_{1}+R_{2})6r}}}     (2)   F V W ( r ) = − A R 1 R 2 ( R 1 + R 2 ) 6 r 2 {displaystyle F_{VW}(r)=-{frac {AR_{1}R_{2}}{(R_{1}+R_{2})6r^{2}}}}     (3) In molecular physics, the van der Waals force, named after Dutch scientist Johannes Diderik van der Waals, is a distance-dependent interaction between atoms or molecules. Unlike ionic or covalent bonds, these attractions do not result from a chemical electronic bond; they are comparatively weak and therefore more susceptible to disturbance. The van der Waals force quickly vanishes at longer distances between interacting molecules. Van der Waals force plays a fundamental role in fields as diverse as supramolecular chemistry, structural biology, polymer science, nanotechnology, surface science, and condensed matter physics. It also underlies many properties of organic compounds and molecular solids, including their solubility in polar and non-polar media. If no other force is present, the distance between atoms at which the force becomes repulsive rather than attractive as the atoms approach one another is called the van der Waals contact distance; this phenomenon results from the mutual repulsion between the atoms' electron clouds. The van der Waals force has the same origin as the Casimir effect, arising from quantum interactions with the zero-point field. The term van der Waals force is sometimes used loosely for all intermolecular forces. The term always includes the London dispersion force between instantaneously induced dipoles. It is sometimes applied to the Debye force between a permanent dipole and a corresponding induced dipole or to the Keesom force between permanent molecular dipoles. Van der Waals forces include attraction and repulsions between atoms, molecules, and surfaces, as well as other intermolecular forces. They differ from covalent and ionic bonding in that they are caused by correlations in the fluctuating polarizations of nearby particles (a consequence of quantum dynamics).