Question

What type of intermolecular force of attraction is found in ICl?

Answer 1

Dipole-dipole interactions will occur between molecules of ICl.

The electrons in the molecule will be shared unevenly because Chlorine has an electronegativity of 3.0 and Iodine has an electronegativity of 2.5 The electronegativity difference is 0.5 (3.0-2.5 = 0.5). This means that electrons will basically spend more time on the Cl side of the molecule creating a partial negative charge. The electrons spend less time on the I side of the molecule creating a partial positive charge.

The partial negative Cl side of one ICl molecule will attract the partial positive I side of a neighboring molecule. This attraction is called a dipole-dipole interaction.