van der Waals force

English

Etymology

van der Waals +‎ force From Dutch van der Waals. from Johannes Diderik van der Waals, who first described them.

Noun

van der Waals force (plural van der Waals forces)

1. (chemistry, often in the plural) The relatively weak attraction between neutral atoms and molecules arising from polarization induced in each particle by the presence of other particles.

Hypernyms

• intermolecular force

Related terms

• van der Waals strain

Translations

weak attraction

• Dutch: van der Waalskracht
• Finnish: van der Waalsin voima
• Portuguese: força de van der Waals f, atração de van der Waals f
• Swedish: van der Waalskraft