Is an “induced dipole” called such because partial charges are created when the atoms are forced to come together?
Not exactly. The molecules needn’t be “forced” to come together. As 2 molecules approach each other, say from just random motion, each will have a particular distribution of charge. A molecule that happens to have an excess of negative charge (because it is a fluctuating dipole) will repell the electrons on a molecule it approaches very closely. This will leave a positive charge on the second molecule, so that the 2 molecules can now form a bond by electrical attraction. Thus the bond is “induced.” For the puposes of this course we need only realize that as two molecules, any two molecules, approach each other very closeley, their is a natural tendency to form a weak bond. The distance is critical (bond energy falls off as a function of the 6th power of the distance, as I recall), so this van der Waals bonding takes place only within a very very narrow range of distance.
