Polarity and intermolecular forces

Polarity and intermolecular forces:

Some atoms attract the bonding pair of electrons more than others. An atom's abitity to attract the electron pair in a covalent bond is called electronegativity. Ignoring the noble gases, electronegativity increases across a period and decreases down a group.

Covalent bonds may be polaised due to the differences between the electronegativities of the atoms in the bond. The bonding electrons are pulled towards the more electronegative atom, making it slightly negative (and therefore making the other atom slightly positive). The greater the difference in electronegativity, the greater this polarity is.

Only bonds between atoms of the same element can be purely covalently bonded. This is because there can be absolutely no difference in their electronegativities.

Most compounds have got both ionic and covalent properties - for example, HCl is a gas which is covalently bonded, but dissolves to form an ionic solution. Overall, the higher the difference in electronegativity, the more ionic the bond is.

Intermolecular forces are very weak forces between molecules (unlike intramolecular forces, which are forces…