Van der Waals forces are much weaker than chemical bonds, and random thermal motion around room temperature can usually overcome or disrupt themVan der Wals forces, relatively weak electric forces that attract neutral molecules to one another in gases, in liquefied and solidified gases, and in almost all organic liquids and solids. The forces are named for the Dutch physicist Johannes Van der Wal, who in 1873 first postulated these Intermolecular spaces in developing a theory to account for the properties of real gases.
Solids that are held together by van der Waals forces characteristically have lower melting points and are softer than those held together by the stronger ionic, covalent, and metallic bonds.
