Liquids exhibit short-range order because strong intermolecular attractive forces cause the molecules to pack together rather tightly. Because of their higher kinetic energy compared to the molecules in a solid, however, the molecules in a liquid move rapidly with respect to one another. Thus unlike the ions in the ionic solids, the molecules in liquids are not arranged in a repeating three-dimensional array. Unlike the molecules in gases, however, the arrangement of the molecules in a liquid is not completely random.
