Question

What are the intermolecular forces involved with CO2?

Answer 1

There is only one intermolecular force involved with CO2 and it is Van der walls force. This is because CO2 is a neutral molecule with symmetry and hence it can only be held together by Van der walls force.

There are 3 types of Intermolecular forces.

1) The strongest type is the Hydrogen bonding. For this we need H atom to be bonded to a highly electronegative atom such as O. CO2 has no H atom, hence no Hydrogen bonding in CO2

2) The second strongest are the dipole-dipole interaction which are present in polar molecules. CO2 has polar C=O bonds but the molecule is symmetric( The two polar C=O bonds cancels out each others affect). Hence CO2 is a non polar molecule. Therefore dipole dipole interaction is not present in CO2 molecule.

3) The weakest forces is the Van der Walls force caused by instantaneous dipoles arising from random movement of electrons attracting other molecules. All atoms and molecules have vander walls forces. Hence it is present in CO2 as well.