Compare the melting temperature of stearic acid with the melting temperature of water.Which substance has stronger intermolecular forces?How do you know?
what are melting temperatures of those two?
ok 60 something °C now what happens when substance is melting? it turns to liquid right? and now lets ask ourselfs what is temperature? well it would be average kinetic energy of all atoms, what does that mean? it means that temperature determines how fast are molecules moving ie vibrating right? now what do we know about molecules/atoms in solids compared to liquids?
is this a picture of your test? are you writing a test right now?!
no thats my assignment
the molecules are closer together...??
yes they are closer together and are bonded with some forces which we will call intermolecular forces ok? so if we melt something we break that forces we mentioned right? and if something has lower melting temperature, ie lower kinetic or movement energy, less movement is needed for them to go apart and turn to liquid, right? so what do you conclude about your question with this line of reasoning in mind?
so the water has stronger intermolecular forces?
if melting temperature is lower it means that it takes less energy to break those forces we were talking about...
that is just one line of reasoning to follow... now im too tired and going to bed its almost 2 am here, if you need further clarification try tagging somebody from online list, good luck and have a nice day
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