Properties of Liquids

and Intermolecular
Forces
GENERAL CHEMISTRY 2

QUARTER 3 – LESSON 3
Recall
Which of the following intermolecular forces is the strongest?
a) London dispersion forces
b) Dipole-dipole forces
c) Hydrogen bonds
d) Ion-dipole forces
Recall
Which of the following substances has the strongest
intermolecular forces?
a) Methane (CH4)
b) Ethane (C2H6)
c) Propane (C3H8)
d) Butane (C4H10)
Recall
Which intermolecular force is responsible for the attraction
between two polar molecules?
a) London dispersion forces
b) Hydrogen bonding
c) Ion-dipole forces
d) Dipole-dipole interactions
Recall
Which of the following molecules can form multiple hydrogen
bonds?
a) H2O
b) NH3
c) CH4
d) HF
Have you ever seen
small insects flit
(walk) on bodies of
water, needles
"float" on water, or
water "bead up" on
a newly waxed car?
Describe the following properties of liquids, and explain the
effect of intermolecular forces on these properties: surface
tension, viscosity, vapor pressure, boiling point, and molar
heat of vaporization (STEM_GC11IMFIIIa-c- 102)

o Describe the properties of liquids: surface tension,

viscosity, vapor pressure, boiling point, and molar heat
of vaporization.
o Explain the effect of intermolecular forces on these
properties.
Properties of Liquids
•Surface tension
•Viscosity
•Vapor pressure
•Boiling point
•Molar heat of vaporization
1. Surface Tension
• It is the force that causes the surface
of a liquid to contract.
• It is the property of the surface of a
liquid that allows it to resist an
external force, due to the cohesive
nature of its molecules.
• It is the amount of energy required
to stretch or increase the surface of
a liquid by a unit area.
Molecules within a liquid
are pulled in all directions
by intermolecular forces.
Molecules at the surface
are pulled downward and
sideways by other
molecules, not upward
away from the surface.
• Surface tension is the force that causes the molecules on
the surface of a liquid to “tighten their hold to one another,”
creating the effect of a thin membrane on the surface.

Surface tension (right) prevents this insect, a “water strider,” from sinking into the water.
Liquids that have strong intermolecular
forces also have high surface tension.
Surface tension is temperature dependent;
it decreases as temperature increases.
Capillary Action
• the tendency of a liquid to rise in narrow tubes or be
drawn into small openings such as those between grains
of a rock.
• also known as capillarity , is a result of intermolecular
attraction between the liquid and solid materials.

Two types of forces are involved in capillary action:

Cohesion Adhesion
Cohesion is the intermolecular attraction between
like molecules (the liquid molecules)

Adhesion is an attraction between unlike molecules

(such as those in water and in the particles that
make up the glass tube).
 The narrower the tube,
the higher the liquid will reach.
Water Mercury
adhesion is adhesion is
greater than less than
cohesion cohesion
(Concave) (Convex)
2. Viscosity
• It is a measure of a fluid’s resistance to flow.
• In layman’s term, it is defined as the measure of the
thickness of a liquid.

The greater the viscosity,

the slower the liquid flows.
The stronger the intermolecular force,
the higher is the liquid’s viscosity.

Since the structure of honey contains a

lot of O-H bond compared to water,
more H-bonds are formed in honey.
Viscosity is expressed in units of centipoise (cP), also known as
stoke. It is a metric system unit. The SI unit is Pascal-second (Pa-s)
or Newton-second/meter2 (N-s/m2).
Given the molecular structures of water and glycerol, can
you tell why glycerol has a higher viscosity than water?
 Consider the table of viscosities below. Table 2 presents the
viscosities of a series of hydrocarbons at 20oC. All the substances
in the list are hydrocarbons and nonpolar. What causes the
differences in viscosities of the hydrocarbons in the list?
How does temperature affect the viscosities of
substances?

Viscosity (decreases or increases) as temperature increases.

Example: Hot molasses flows much (faster or slower) than cold
molasses.
3. Vapor Pressure
• is the pressure exerted by a vapor in equilibrium with its liquid
phase.

Describe what is
happening to the water
molecules in the two
flasks shown in the
picture.
When the rate of condensation of the gas becomes equal
to the rate of evaporation of the liquid, the gas in the
container is said to be in equilibrium with the liquid.

The equilibrium
equation is:

The greater the number of gaseous particles, the

greater the pressure exerted by the gas.
 The equilibrium vapor pressure is the maximum vapor
pressure of a liquid at a given temperature and that it is
constant at a constant temperature.
Vapor pressure increases with temperature
The graph shows the four common liquids, what happens
to their vapor pressure as temperature increases?
 How is vapor pressure related to strength of
intermolecular forces?

Volatile substances
have high vapor Alcohol, Perfumes, and
pressures because Acetone have a weak IMF.
they easily evaporate
even at room
temperature.
4. Boiling Point
• A liquid boils when its vapor pressure equals the pressure
acting on the surface of the liquid.
The boiling point is the temperature at which the vapor
pressure of a liquid is equal to the external pressure.
 The normal boiling point is the temperature at which the
liquid converts to a gas when the external pressure is 1 atm.
The normal boiling point of water is 100oC.

The boiling point of

a liquid depends
on the external
pressure.
 The stronger the intermolecular force of attraction in
molecules, the boiling point is relatively high and will require
a high temperature to break the IMF and change the
phase of the substance from liquid to gas.
Higher ΔHvap, Higher Boiling Point
5. Molar Heat of Vaporization
• The molar heat of vaporization (ΔHvap) is the energy
required to vaporize 1 mole of a liquid at a given
temperature.
• H is the symbol for enthalpy, which means heat content at
a given standard condition
 If the intermolecular attraction is strong, it takes a lot of
energy to free the molecules from the liquid phase and the
heat of vaporization will be high.
A certain substance A has a boiling point of 78˚C and
substance B has a boiling point of 110˚C . Answer the
following questions.
• a. Which substance has a higher vapor pressure?
• Substance A
• b. Which substance has a stronger force of attraction?
• Substance B
• c. Which substance has a higher heat of vaporization?
• Substance B
• d. Which one will have a higher viscosity?
• Substance B
Determine the relationship between factors by writing DP
if the relationship is directly proportional and IP if
inversely proportional.

1. IMF vs. Molar heat of vaporization

2. Viscosity vs. Fluidity
3. IMF vs. Boiling point
4. Temperature vs. Kinetic energy
5. IMF vs. Surface tension
Determine the relationship between factors by writing DP
if the relationship is directly proportional and IP if
inversely proportional.

6. Temperature vs. IMF

7. IMF vs. Vapor pressure
8. Temperature vs. Viscosity
9. Kinetic energy vs. IMF
10. IMF vs. Viscosity
Determine the relationship between factors by writing DP
if the relationship is directly proportional and IP if
inversely proportional.

1. IMF is directly proportional to the molar heat of

vaporization.
2. Viscosity is inversely proportional to fluidity.
3. IMF is directly proportional to the boiling point.
4. Temperature is directly proportional to kinetic energy.
5. IMF is directly proportional to surface tension.
Determine the relationship between factors by writing DP
if the relationship is directly proportional and IP if
inversely proportional.

6. Temperature is inversely proportional to IMF.

7. IMF is inversely proportional to vapor pressure.
8. Temperature is inversely proportional to viscosity.
9. Kinetic energy is inversely proportional to IMF.
10. IMF is directly proportional to viscosity.