Question

23 sep construct an explanation use compound type to infer the relative boiling points of the following compounds: naf, n₂o, and h₂o. rank them in order from lowest to highest boiling point. explain how you made your ranking. then look up the boiling points and check your answer.

Explanation:

• Identify compound types:
• \(NaF\) is an ionic compound. Ionic compounds have strong electrostatic forces (ionic bonds) between ions. These strong forces require a large amount of energy to break, resulting in high boiling points.
• \(N_{2}O\) is a non - polar covalent compound. Non - polar covalent compounds have weak London dispersion forces (a type of van der Waals force). These weak forces mean that less energy is required to separate the molecules, leading to low boiling points.
• \(H_{2}O\) is a polar covalent compound with hydrogen bonding. Hydrogen bonds are a relatively strong type of intermolecular force (stronger than London dispersion forces but weaker than ionic bonds). They require more energy to break compared to London dispersion forces, so the boiling point is higher than that of non - polar covalent compounds but lower than that of ionic compounds.
• Rank based on intermolecular/intramolecular forces:
• Since the strength of forces is \(London\ dispersion\ forces (in\ N_{2}O)<hydrogen\ bonds (in\ H_{2}O)<ionic\ bonds (in\ NaF)\), the boiling point trend will follow the same order of force strength.

Answer:

The ranking from lowest to highest boiling point is \(N_{2}O < H_{2}O < NaF\).