Explain why boiling of ethanol is higher than hexane?
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ChatGPT
Aug 9
The boiling point of a substance is determined by the strength of the intermolecular forces between its molecules. In the case of ethanol and hexane, ethanol has a higher boiling point than hexane because ethanol molecules have stronger intermolecular forces.
Ethanol molecules have hydrogen bonding, which is a strong intermolecular force that occurs between molecules with hydrogen atoms bonded to highly electronegative atoms like oxygen. This hydrogen bonding makes it more difficult to separate ethanol molecules from each other, requiring more energy to break these bonds and reach the boiling point.
On the other hand, hexane molecules do not have hydrogen bonding and only have weaker dispersion forces between their molecules. These dispersion forces are not as strong as hydrogen bonding, so less energy is required to break them and reach the boiling point of hexane.
Therefore, the higher boiling point of ethanol compared to hexane is due to the presence of stronger intermolecular forces, specifically hydrogen bonding, in ethanol molecules.
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Google Gemini AI
Aug 9
The boiling point of a liquid is determined by the strength of the intermolecular forces between its molecules. The stronger the intermolecular forces, the higher the boiling point.
Ethanol (C2H5OH) has stronger intermolecular forces than hexane (C6H14) due to the presence of a polar hydroxyl group (-OH) in ethanol. The hydroxyl group can form hydrogen bonds with neighboring molecules, which are stronger than the van der Waals forces present in hexane.
Hydrogen bonding is a type of dipole-dipole interaction that occurs between molecules with a hydrogen atom bonded to a highly electronegative atom, such as oxygen or nitrogen. The electronegative atom attracts electrons towards itself, creating a partial positive charge on the hydrogen atom. This partial positive charge can then interact with the partial negative charge on another electronegative atom, forming a hydrogen bond.
In ethanol, the hydroxyl group can form hydrogen bonds with neighboring ethanol molecules. These hydrogen bonds hold the ethanol molecules together more strongly than the van der Waals forces in hexane, which only involve the temporary attraction between nonpolar molecules.
As a result of the stronger intermolecular forces in ethanol, it requires more energy to break the bonds between its molecules and cause it to boil. Therefore, ethanol has a higher boiling point than hexane.