The melting points of a series of compounds are reported. Which of the options likely represents a molecular species? #A.# #801# #""^@C#; #B.# #1600# #""^@C#; #C.# #1538# #""^@C#; #D.# #0# #""^@C#;

1 Answer
Oct 10, 2016

My educated (?) guess would be #D#.

Explanation:

Ionic compounds are non-molecular and tend to possess high melting points, and very high boiling points. Refer to the melting point of say #NaCl#, at #801# #""^@C#.

On the other hand, molecular species are composed of discrete molecules, and the interparticle, i.e intermolecular, interactions tend to be much less in magnitude than those observed for non-molecular species. #A#, #B#, and #C# are contraindicated.