Nacl is an ionic solid. the na + and cl - ions in nacl are bonded through an electrostatic force of attraction commonly known as the ionic bond. water is a polar solvent. the oxygen atom, being more electronegative, attracts the electron cloud toward itself. as the electron cloud is pulled by the oxygen atom, it carries a partial negative charge, and the hydrogen atoms carry a partial positive charge. this partial separation of charges in the water molecule makes it polar. which intermolecular forces contribute to the dissolution of nacl in water?

NaCl is the poster-compound for ionic bonding. The bonds in NaCl have approximately 70% ionic character, making the bonds highly polar. It's an exaggeration to say that there are real ions in NaCl with + 1 and - 1 charges, but the real charges of Na and Cl are certainly close to the expected + 1 and - 1, correspondingly. Since NaCl is as a network of extremely charged particles, and not separate molecules, NaCl does not display intermolecular forces.

Water molecules conversely do display London dispersion forces, Keesom forces and hydrogen bonding.

The polar water molecules are involved to the polarized Na and Cl atoms. This is what permits NaCl (s) to dissolve and ionize in water. Consequently, the kind of attraction accountable for the ionization of NaCl is ion-dipole attraction.