Which solid has the highest melting point? Why? C(s, diamond ), Kr(s), NaCl(s), H2 O(s)

Name: Problem 42, Chapter 12: Chemistry A Molecular Approach
Uploaded: 2021-01-19T22:15:20-08:00
Duration: 3 min 45 s
Channel: Ronald Prasad
Description: Which solid has the highest melting point? Why? C(s, diamond ), Kr(s), NaCl(s), H2 O(s)

step 1 Which solid has the highest melting point? If we look at carbon, which is in the diamond form, t

Which solid has the highest melting point? Why? C(s, ...

Key Concepts

Melting Point Trends

Melting point is a physical property that depends mainly on the type and strength of the bonds holding a solid together. In general, solids with a network of strong covalent or ionic bonds tend to have higher melting points due to the large amount of energy required to break these bonds, whereas solids held together by weaker intermolecular or dispersion forces melt at much lower temperatures.

Covalent Network Bonding

Covalent network solids consist of atoms connected by a continuous network of covalent bonds extending throughout the material. This type of bonding creates an extremely strong and rigid structure, meaning that large amounts of energy are necessary to break the bonds and cause melting. This is why materials with a covalent network, such as diamond, typically have the highest melting points among different classes of solids.

Ionic Bonding

Ionic solids are formed by the strong electrostatic attraction between positively and negatively charged ions. Although ionic bonds are generally very strong, resulting in high melting points, they are often still lower than the melting points of covalent network solids because the directional covalent bonds in a network can create even more robust lattices that require even greater energy to disrupt.

Weak Intermolecular and Dispersion Forces

Solids that rely primarily on weak intermolecular forces, such as hydrogen bonding, dipole-dipole interactions, or London dispersion forces, generally have much lower melting points. This category also includes noble gas solids, where atoms are only held together by London dispersion forces, which are the weakest of the bonding interactions and therefore lead to low melting temperatures.

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