Van der Waals radius

van der Waals radii
Element radius (Å)
Hydrogen 1.2 (1.09)[1]
Carbon 1.7
Nitrogen 1.55
Oxygen 1.52
Fluorine 1.47
Phosphorus 1.8
Sulfur 1.8
Chlorine 1.75
Copper 1.4
van der Waals radii taken from
Bondi's compilation (1964).[2]
Values from other sources may
differ significantly (see text)

The van der Waals radius, rw, of an atom is the radius of an imaginary hard sphere representing the distance of closest approach for another atom. It is named after Johannes Diderik van der Waals, winner of the 1910 Nobel Prize in Physics, as he was the first to recognise that atoms were not simply points and to demonstrate the physical consequences of their size through the van der Waals equation of state.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference RowlandRS1996 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Bondi, A. (1964). "van der Waals Volumes and Radii". J. Phys. Chem. 68 (3): 441–451. doi:10.1021/j100785a001.