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mrpauller.weebly.com
Mar 9, 2016

The intermolecular forces that would exist between water and carbon dioxide would be London (dispersion) forces and dipole-induced dipole.

Explanation:

Water is a polar molecule and carbon dioxide is nonpolar.

Because the forces which will cause #CO_2# molecules to be attracted to water molecules are weak, carbon dioxide has some (but not very good) solubility in water. The solubility of the gas is better in cold water than in warm water.

The random movement of electrons in the nonpolar regions of carbon dioxide can create short lived dipoles in #CO_2# molecules. These create a small attractive force with other molecules called London dispersion forces .

Water is polar due to the strong electronegativity of oxygen which means that electrons spend more time in the oxygen side of water molecules. This polarity can distort the electron cloud of nearby molecules inducing small dipoles. These are also weak attractive forces. This is called a dipole-induced dipole force.

This video reviews Lewis structures of molecules including water and carbon dioxide.

Hope this helps!

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