Van der Waals' Forces in Diamond Structures

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SUMMARY

The discussion clarifies that while van der Waals' forces are often cited as significant in molecular interactions, in the case of diamond's giant covalent structure, these forces are negligible compared to the strong covalent bonds between carbon atoms. The participants agree that although dispersion forces may exist between carbon atoms, they do not play a dominant role in the stability of diamond. The primary force maintaining the structure of diamond is the electrostatic nature of covalent bonding, which is directional and significantly stronger than any intermolecular forces.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of covalent bonding in chemistry
  • Knowledge of intermolecular forces, specifically van der Waals' forces
  • Familiarity with diamond's crystal structure
  • Basic principles of electrostatics in molecular interactions
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the properties of covalent bonds in diamond structures
  • Study the role of electrostatics in molecular chemistry
  • Explore the differences between intermolecular and intramolecular forces
  • Investigate the significance of dispersion forces in various materials
USEFUL FOR

Chemistry students, materials scientists, and researchers interested in molecular interactions and the structural properties of diamond.

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very often, most chemistry books claim that the dominant force helding the molecules together to a certain distance apart is van der Waals' forces, which is a kind of intermolecular forces; However, to investigate the forces microscopically, we found that the force is exactly electrostatic... Here I have a question.
diamond,having a giant covalent strucuture . is there any "van der Waals' forces" between the carbon atoms in the entire strucuture? or We ignore the existence because it is less dominant when compared with the directional, strong covalent bonds?
 
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Yes, there may be dispersion forces between the C-atoms, but these will be negligible compared to the strength of covalent bonding.
 
Gokul43201 said:
Yes, there may be dispersion forces between the C-atoms, but these will be negligible compared to the strength of covalent bonding.
Thank you very much ^^
 

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