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7: Intermolecular Forces and Functional Groups

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    490932
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    Why is water a liquid at room temperature while carbon dioxide is a gas? Why do some substances dissolve well in water while others do not? Why are deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) molecules so well adapted to serve as genetic material?

    All of these questions are all partially answered by the types of intermolecular forces that exist between particles of these substances. In this chapter, we will develop an understanding of how the strength of intermolecular forces affect the boiling/melting point of substances and learn about how the inclusion of certain elements can affect the overall intermolecular forces particles can exhibit. Understanding this key concept is fundamental to explaining why biomolecules function the way that they do...but we'll save that for later. For now, let's dive into intermolecular forces!

    Title Image: Hydrogen bonds observed between particles of water (image credit below)

    "Liquid water hydrogen bond" by Thomas Splettstoesser (www.scistyle.com) is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.


    7: Intermolecular Forces and Functional Groups is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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