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Dispersion Forces

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State

A dispersion force is a weak, temporary attraction from momentary, fluctuating electron distributions that induce a matching dipole in a neighbor.

Show

Fluorine and chlorine stay gases at room temperature, but bromine is liquid and iodine solid, as dispersion forces strengthen with size.

Watch for

Dispersion forces exist between every pair of atoms or molecules — the one IMF no condensed phase ever lacks.