Chemistry Glossary

Dipole

Dipole - a pair of equal and opposite charges separated by a distance

Dipole moment

Dipole moment - a quantitative measure of the polarity of a bond and is the product of the charge Q and the distance r between the charges

Electronegativity

Electronegativity - the power of an atom of an element to attract a bonding pair of electrons towards itself in a molecule

Hydrogen bond

Hydrogen bond - the particularly strong attractive force between the hydrogen atom attached to an electronegative atom and the lone pair on another electronegative atom.  Usually the electronegative

Induced dipole

Induced dipole - a dipole induced in a molecule as a neighbouring dipole affect the electron distribution in the molecule

Instantaneous dipole

Instantaneous dipole - a dipole that develops accidentally in a molecule due to the constant motion of electrons

Intermolecular force

Intermolecular force - forces that cause molecules to be attracted to one another 

Permanent dipole

Permanent dipole - a polar molecule as a whole is said to have a permanent dipole since uneven charge distribution exists in the molecule all the time

Surface tension

Surface tension - the amount of energy required to stretch or increase the surface of a liquid by a unit area

Van der Waals' forces

Van der Waals' forces - collectively refer to the forces of attraction and repulsion that are neither ionic nor covalent

Viscosity

Viscosity - a measure of a liquid's resistance to flow

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