Van der Waals Interaction

[jhosamelly]

I need to report about the Van der Waals interaction in our Quantum Mechanics class. Can someone please help me sort things out about Van der Waals interaction? How do go think should I go about it? In our book, the only thing discussed is the Van der Waals interaction between two hydrogen atom in their ground state.

I know the 3 types of Van der Waals interaction
1. dipole-dipole
2. dipole-induced dipole
3. dispersion

but where should I put the Van der Waals interaction between two hydrogen atom in their ground state? Where is it under?

Thanks for the help in advance.

 

[TeethWhitener]

Hydrogen atoms in their ground states do not have dipole moments, so I imagine you'd classify the interaction as a dispersion (induced dipole-induced dipole). But this is a weird question because the covalent bond formed between two hydrogen atoms will be much stronger than any sort of van der Waals interaction.