Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 exam•Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
Fluctuating dipoles are constantly changing regions of slight positive and negative charge within an atom or molecule caused by the movement of electrons.
Related terms
London Dispersion Forces: These are weak intermolecular forces arising from fluctuating dipoles in atoms or molecules.
Nonpolar Molecule: A type of molecule that does not have permanent or fluctuating dipoles because its electron cloud is symmetrically distributed.
The ability of an atom to attract shared electrons towards itself in a chemical bond which can lead to formation of dipoles if it varies significantly between two atoms involved in bonding.