Attractive forces Waals

The long-range van der Waals interaction provides a cohesive pressure for a thin film that is equal to the mutual attractive force per square centimeter of two slabs of the same material as the film and separated by a thickness equal to that of the film. Consider a long column of the material of unit cross section. Let it be cut in the middle and the two halves separated by d, the film thickness. Then, from one outside end of one of each half, slice off a layer of thickness d insert one of these into the gap. The system now differs from the starting point by the presence of an isolated thin layer. Show by suitable analysis of this sequence that the opening statement is correct. Note About the only assumptions needed are that interactions are superimposable and that they are finite in range. 

Van der Waals Equations of State. A logical step to take next is to consider equations of state that contain both a covolume term and an attractive force term, such as the van der Waals equation. De Boer [4] and Ross and Olivier [55] have given this type of equation much emphasis. 

In 1873, van der Waals [2] first used these ideas to account for the deviation of real gases from the ideal gas law P V= RT in which P, Tand T are the pressure, molar volume and temperature of the gas and R is the gas constant. Fie argried that the incompressible molecules occupied a volume b leaving only the volume V- b free for the molecules to move in. Fie further argried that the attractive forces between the molecules reduced the pressure they exerted on the container by a/V thus the pressure appropriate for the gas law isP + a/V rather than P. These ideas led him to the van der Waals equation of state ... 

Adsorbates can physisorb onto a surface into a shallow potential well, typically 0.25 eV or less [25]. In physisorption, or physical adsorption, the electronic structure of the system is barely perturbed by the interaction, and the physisorbed species are held onto a surface by weak van der Waals forces. This attractive force is due to charge fiuctuations in the surface and adsorbed molecules, such as mutually induced dipole moments. Because of the weak nature of this interaction, the equilibrium distance at which physisorbed molecules reside above a surface is relatively large, of the order of 3 A or so. Physisorbed species can be induced to remain adsorbed for a long period of time if the sample temperature is held sufficiently low. Thus, most studies of physisorption are carried out with the sample cooled by liquid nitrogen or helium. 

Van der Waals complexes can be observed spectroscopically by a variety of different teclmiques, including microwave, infrared and ultraviolet/visible spectroscopy. Their existence is perhaps the simplest and most direct demonstration that there are attractive forces between stable molecules. Indeed the spectroscopic properties of Van der Waals complexes provide one of the most detailed sources of infonnation available on intennolecular forces, especially in the region around the potential minimum. The measured rotational constants of Van der Waals complexes provide infonnation on intennolecular distances and orientations, and the frequencies of bending and stretching vibrations provide infonnation on how easily the complex can be distorted from its equilibrium confonnation. In favourable cases, the whole of the potential well can be mapped out from spectroscopic data. 

A substance exists as a liquid rather than a gas because attractive forces between molecules (mtermolecular attractive forces) are greater m the liquid than m the gas phase Attractive forces between neutral species (atoms or molecules but not ions) are referred to as van der Waals forces and may be of three types... 

These forces are electrical m nature and m order to vaporize a substance enough energy must be added to overcome them Most alkanes have no measurable dipole moment and therefore the only van der Waals force to be considered is the induced dipole/mduced dipole attractive force... 

Alkanes and cycloalkanes are nonpolar and insoluble m water The forces of attraction between alkane molecules are induced dipole/induced dipole attractive forces The boiling points of alkanes increase as the number of carbon atoms increases Branched alkanes have lower boiling points than their unbranched isomers There is a limit to how closely two molecules can approach each other which is given by the sum of their van der Waals radii... 

Boiling Point When describing the effect of alkane structure on boiling point m Sec tion 2 17 we pointed out that van der Waals attractive forces between neutral molecules are of three types The first two involve induced dipoles and are often referred to as dis persion forces or London forces... 

Drops coalesce because of coUisions and drainage of Hquid trapped between colliding drops. Therefore, coalescence frequency can be defined as the product of coUision frequency and efficiency per coUision. The coUision frequency depends on number of drops and flow parameters such as shear rate and fluid forces. The coUision efficiency is a function of Hquid drainage rate, surface forces, and attractive forces such as van der Waal s. Because dispersed phase drop size depends on physical properties which are sometimes difficult to measure, it becomes necessary to carry out laboratory experiments to define the process mixing requirements. A suitable mixing system can then be designed based on satisfying these requirements. 

V n der W ls Interactions. Van der Waals iateractions result from the asymmetric distribution of electronic charge surrounding an atom, which induces a complementary dipole in a neighboring atom, resulting in an attractive force. In general, the attractive force of van der Waals interactions is very weak (<4.2 kJ/mol (1 kcal/mol)) but may become significant if steric complementarity creates an opportunity to form a large number of van der Waals attractions. 

The well-known DLVO theory of coUoid stabiUty (10) attributes the state of flocculation to the balance between the van der Waals attractive forces and the repulsive electric double-layer forces at the Hquid—soHd interface. The potential at the double layer, called the zeta potential, is measured indirectly by electrophoretic mobiUty or streaming potential. The bridging flocculation by which polymer molecules are adsorbed on more than one particle results from charge effects, van der Waals forces, or hydrogen bonding (see Colloids). 

DLVO Theory. The overall stabiUty of a particle dispersion depends on the sum of the attractive and repulsive forces as a function of the distance separating the particles. DLVO theory, named for Derjaguin and Landau (11) and Verwey and Overbeek (12), encompasses van der Waals attraction and electrostatic repulsion between particles, but does not consider steric stabilization. The net energy, AGp between two particles at a given distance is the sum of the repulsive and attractive forces ... 

AGrjp = (electrostatic repulsive forces ) — (van der Waals attractive forces)... 

The electrostatic repulsive forces are a function of particle kinetic energy (/ T), ionic strength, zeta potential, and separation distance. The van der Waals attractive forces are a function of the Hamaker constant and separation distance. 

The wettiag eaergies give repulsive forces exceeding that of the van der Waals attractive force under certain conditions. The combiaed van der Waals and wettiag force is givea by equatioa 7 ia which h is the distance perpendicular to the iaterface that the particle has moved from its equiHbrium positioa. 

When a gas comes in contact with a solid surface, under suitable conditions of temperature and pressure, the concentration of the gas (the adsorbate) is always found to be greater near the surface (the adsorbent) than in the bulk of the gas phase. This process is known as adsorption. In all solids, the surface atoms are influenced by unbalanced attractive forces normal to the surface plane adsorption of gas molecules at the interface partially restores the balance of forces. Adsorption is spontaneous and is accompanied by a decrease in the free energy of the system. In the gas phase the adsorbate has three degrees of freedom in the adsorbed phase it has only two. This decrease in entropy means that the adsorption process is always exothermic. Adsorption may be either physical or chemical in nature. In the former, the process is dominated by molecular interaction forces, e.g., van der Waals and dispersion forces. The formation of the physically adsorbed layer is analogous to the condensation of a vapor into a liquid in fret, the heat of adsorption for this process is similar to that of liquefoction. 

The atoms of a molecule are held together by primary bonds. The attractive forces which act between molecules are usually referred to as secondary bonds, secondary valence forces, intermolecular forces or van der Waals forces. 

Gady found that, depending on the charge of the particle, van der Waals forces dominated over the forces associated with electrostatically charged patches when the particle-to-substrate separation was between 3 and 10 nm, depending on the particle charge. In addition, he found that the distance at which the snap-together occurred required that van der Waals forces dominate over electrostatic. In all his measurements, however, a component of the total attractive force, even at close separations, was observed to be electrostatic in nature. 

Physisorption occurs when, as a result of energy differences and/or electrical attractive forces (weak van der Waals forces), the adsorbate molecules become physically fastened to the adsorbent molecules. This type of adsorption is multilayered that is, each molecular layer forms on top of the previous layer with the number of layers being proportional to the contaminant concentration. More molecular layers form with higher concentrations of contaminant in solution. When a chemical compound is produced by the reaction between the adsorbed molecule and the adsorbent, chemisorption occurs. Unlike physisorption, this process is one molecule thick and irreversible... 

As the distance between the two particles varies, they are subject to these long-range r " attractive forces (which some authors refer to collectively as van der Waals forces). Upon very close approach they will experience a repulsive force due to electron-electron repulsion. This repulsive interaction is not theoretically well characterized, and it is usually approximated by an empirical reciprocal power of distance of separation. The net potential energy is then a balance of the attractive and repulsive components, often described by Eq. (8-16), the Lennard-Jones 6-12 potential. 

Both attractive forces and repulsive forces are included in van der Waals interactions. The attractive forces are due primarily to instantaneous dipole-induced dipole interactions that arise because of fluctuations in the electron charge distributions of adjacent nonbonded atoms. Individual van der Waals interactions are weak ones (with stabilization energies of 4.0 to 1.2 kj/mol), but many such interactions occur in a typical protein, and, by sheer force of numbers, they can represent a significant contribution to the stability of a protein. Peter Privalov and George Makhatadze have shown that, for pancreatic ribonuclease A, hen egg white lysozyme, horse heart cytochrome c, and sperm whale myoglobin, van der Waals interactions between tightly packed groups in the interior of the protein are a major contribution to protein stability. 

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