How do cohesive forces determine a liquid’s heat of vaporization?

In the liquid state of matter, molecules are held together by short-range attractive forces known as cohesive forces. These forces, which include van der Waals forces, act to keep the molecules in close proximity, preventing them from moving independently as they do in a gas.123

The heat of vaporization—also referred to as the enthalpy or latent heat of vaporization—is the amount of energy required to convert a unit mass of a liquid into a vapor. Because vaporization involves separating these molecules to form a gas of independent entities, the process requires an input of energy to overcome the existing cohesive forces. Consequently, the heat of vaporization serves as a direct measure of the strength of these cohesive forces within the liquid.4563