Van der Waals surface

Van der Waals surface
A van der Waals' surface. Coloured according to charge, superimposed on a ball-and-stick model of the hydrogen sulfide molecule

Van der Waals surface area (abbreviated variously as vdWSA[citation needed], VSA, WSA), also van der Waals surface or van der Waals envelope (after Johannes Diderik van der Waals) is the imaginary surface of the union of spherical atom surfaces defined by the so-called van der Waals radius of each atom in the molecule representation. The van der Waals surface enclosed volume reference is molecular volume.

Both van der Waals surface and molecular volume are abstract representation of molecules, rather than "real" surfaces and volumes of molecules.

CPK models of molecules may actually picture the van der Waals surfaces, if based on van der Waals radii.

Further reading

External links



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Van der Waals radius — The van der Waals radius, r sub|w, of an atom is the radius of an imaginary hard sphere which can be used to model the atom for many purposes. It is named after Johannes Diderik van der Waals, winner of the 1910 Nobel Prize in Physics, as he was… …   Wikipedia

  • Van der Waals force — In physical chemistry, the van der Waals force (or van der Waals interaction), named after Dutch scientist Johannes Diderik van der Waals, is the sum of the attractive or repulsive forces between molecules (or between parts of the same molecule)… …   Wikipedia

  • Van der Waals equation — The van der Waals equation is an equation of state for a fluid composed of particles that have a non zero size and a pairwise attractive inter particle force (such as the van der Waals force.) It was derived by Johannes Diderik van der Waals in… …   Wikipedia

  • Van der Waals (crater) — lunar crater data latitude=43.9 N or S=S longitude=119.9 E or W=E diameter=104 km depth= Unknown colong=242 eponym=Johannes Van der WaalsVan Der Waals is a lunar crater on the far side of the Moon. It is a heavily eroded feature with an irregular …   Wikipedia

  • Rayon de van der Waals — Rayons de van der Waals de certains éléments Élément Rayon (Å) Hydrogène 1,20 Carbone 1,70 Azote 1,55 Oxygène 1,52 Fluor 1,47 Phosphore …   Wikipédia en Français

  • SURFACE (PHÉNOMÈNES DE) — La surface d’un solide ou d’un liquide est une région s’étendant sur quelques distances atomiques qui sépare l’intérieur du matériau du milieu extérieur: en général, le vide ou un gaz. Si le milieu extérieur est une autre phase dense, liquide ou… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Surface reconstruction — refers to the process by which atoms at the surface of a crystal assume a different structure than that of the bulk. Surface reconstructions are important in that they help in the understanding of surface chemistry for various materials,… …   Wikipedia

  • Surface forces apparatus — The surface force apparatus (SFA) is a scientific instrument and technique pioneered by D. Tabor, R.H.S. Winterton, J.N. Israelachvili in the early 1970s at Cambridge University. By the mid 70 s Israelachvili had adapted the original design to… …   Wikipedia

  • Accessible surface area — Illustration of the solvent accessible surface in comparison to the van der Waals surface. The van der Waals surface as given by the atomic radii is shown in red. The accessible surface is drawn with dashed lines and is created by tracing the… …   Wikipedia

  • Molecular surface — may refer to one of the following. the van der Waals surface Accessible surface area any of isosurfaces for a molecule Connolly surface This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”