Van der Waals forces

Named after J.D. van der Waals. Forces. They are electrostatic in nature and are based on the interaction between permanent dipoles and on attraction forces that originate from dipole/dipole orientation or induction effects. The Van der Waals forces increase along with the molecular dipole moment and the polarisability of the atoms and molecules, and decrease with the spacing r of the interacting atoms and molecules in proportion to 1/r^6.