The long hydrocarbon molecules that make up olive oil only possess weak London dispersion forces between them, yet olive oil is a viscous liquid. How is this possible?

London dispersion forces are strong when molecules contain only C and H atoms.

The regular, repeating shape of hydrocarbon molecules allows them to pack in a crystal structure.

Hydrocarbons are more volatile than compounds that contain other kinds of atoms.

The size of the molecules allows for the formation of many weak attractions with other molecules.

Question

Chemistry

Houston Hopkins

9 May, 23:01

The long hydrocarbon molecules that make up olive oil only possess weak London dispersion forces between them, yet olive oil is a viscous liquid. How is this possible?

London dispersion forces are strong when molecules contain only C and H atoms.

The regular, repeating shape of hydrocarbon molecules allows them to pack in a crystal structure.

Hydrocarbons are more volatile than compounds that contain other kinds of atoms.

The size of the molecules allows for the formation of many weak attractions with other molecules.

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Answers (1)

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Amiyah Hanson · Answer 1

The correct answer would be the last option. Olive oil is a viscous liquid though it only has London dispersion forces because of the size of the molecule which would allow the formation of many weak attraction with other molecules. Although the forces present are weak, considering the length of the molecule, these forces would end up to be stronger causing for molecules to become tangled giving a viscous property.