See Also: van der Waals forces(encyclopedia)
van der Waals' forces(medicine)
Herbal medicine (botanical medicine, herbology, phytomedicine)(health)
van der Waals(dictionary)
van der Waals, Johannes(medicine)
van der Waals attraction(medicine)
van der Waals, Johannes Diederik(encyclopedia)
forces(medicine)
G-Forces - Luge(gambling)
armed forces(dictionary)

van der Waals' forces (medicine)


van der Waals' forces
First postulated by van der Waals in 1873 to explain deviations from ideal gas behaviour seen in real gases; the attractive force's between atoms or molecules other than electrostatic (ionic), covalent (sharing of electrons), or hydrogen bonding (sharing a proton); generally ascribed to dipolar and dispersion effects, π-electrons, etc.; these relatively nondescript force's contribute to the mutual attraction of organic molecules.

Synonym: London forces.