Question

Are the attractions water molecules have for each other stronger or weaker than the attractions between molecules of carbon dioxide? Thank you!

Answer 1

`H_2O` molecules have stronger intermolecular forces than `CO_2` molecules, so the attractions between carbon dioxide molecules are weaker.

Explanation:

While `H_2O` molecules are polar, `CO_2` molecules are not. This means that `H_2O` molecules can take part in dipole-dipole interactions between molecules, while the strongest intermolecular forces `CO_2` molecules can take part in are Van der Waals forces, or London Dispersion Forces.

Van der Waals forces, which arise from the electrostatic attraction between temporary dipoles formed by electrons occupying certain positions in atoms, are much weaker compared to dipole-dipole forces, which are the result of electrostatic attractions between the permanently positive and negative ends (dipoles) of polar molecules.