Question

Question #ca3b0

Answer 1

You need to interrogate the alkane MELTING points...........as a physical scientist you need to interpret data NOT to estimate it.

Explanation:

And of course, you need to examine the actual data. From the table, hexadecane, `n-C_16H_34`, has a melting point of `18.2` `""^@C`; branched alkanes should have LOWER melting points. Can you advance a reason why?

Answer 2

You need a graph of alkane melting points.

Explanation:

It should look something like this:

You might define 20 °C as room temperature.

Then you would check the melting points of the alkanes from one carbon up.

The dividing line appears to come between hexadecane (16 carbons, melting point 18 °C) and heptadecane (17 carbons, melting point 21 °C).

Then, heptadecane would the first alkane to be a solid at room temperature.