Cohesion (chemistry)





Cohesion or cohesive attraction or cohesive force in chemistry is the intermolecular attraction between like-molecules. Water, for example, is strongly cohesive due to strong polarity induced by two hydrogen bonds in a tetrahedral configuration. This results in a relatively strong Coulomb force between molecules. Van der Waals gases such as methane, however, have weak cohesion due only to Van der Waals forces that operate by induced polarity in non-polar molecules.

Cohesion, along with adhesion (attraction between unlike molecules), helps explain phenomena such as surface tension and Capillary action.