Van der Waals forces are the class of intermolecular attractions, distinct from covalent and ionic bonds, that arise from electron distribution asymmetries between molecules or atoms. They range in strength from London dispersion forces (caused by transient, probabilistic uneven electron distributions producing instantaneous partial charges, present in all molecules but the sole interaction in nonpolar species like noble gases) to dipole-dipole interactions (caused by permanent partial charges from differences in electronegativity, as in hydrogen chloride) to hydrogen bonds (an especially strong dipole-dipole interaction occurring when hydrogen is bonded to a highly electronegative atom such as nitrogen, oxygen, or fluorine). This belongs to the domain of chemical bonding and intermolecular forces within general chemistry, where the strength of these interactions directly determines a substance's melting and boiling points.
Van der Waals forces are the class of intermolecular attractions, distinct from covalent and ionic bonds, that arise from electron distribution asymmetries between molecules or atoms. They range in s…