Vander Waals radius is ______ in comparison to covalent radius:

Covalent radius (rc) is the half of the distance between the two nuclei of the atoms bonded by the covalent bond. (see figure below)



Figure 1: Covalent radius


In the solid state, the half of the distance measured between two non-bonding atoms of a homonuclear diatomic molecule is called van der Waals radius (rv).



Figure 2: Van der Waals radius


Clearly, van der Waals radius is larger than the covalent radius.

8