What is the primary type of intermolecular force in water?

Water exhibits hydrogen bonding as its primary type of intermolecular force. This occurs due to the polarity of the water molecule, which has a significant difference in electronegativity between the oxygen atom and the hydrogen atoms. The oxygen atom attracts the shared electrons more strongly than the hydrogen atoms, leading to a partial negative charge on oxygen and a partial positive charge on hydrogen.

These partial charges enable the formation of hydrogen bonds between water molecules, where the hydrogen atom of one water molecule is attracted to the oxygen atom of another. Hydrogen bonds are relatively strong compared to other types of intermolecular forces, contributing to water's high boiling point, surface tension, and other unique properties.

While ionic and covalent bonding involve much stronger interactions that occur within molecules, they are not classified as intermolecular forces. Ionic bonding refers to the electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions, and covalent bonding involves the sharing of electron pairs between atoms. Van der Waals forces, on the other hand, are weaker interactions, such as London dispersion forces and dipole-dipole interactions, which occur in other molecules but are not the dominant force in water.

Thus, the presence of hydrogen bonding is what primarily accounts for water's unique physical and chemical properties.