Problem 69

Given information

Explain the trend in the melting points of the hydrogen halides.

Step-by-step explanation

Trends in the melting point of hydrogen halides:

Melting point is affected by the intermolecular forces in these molecules.

Types of intermolecular forces in these halides:

dipole-dipole,hydrogen bonding,london dispersion force.

dipole-dipole,london dispersion force.

All these are polar as halogens have high electronegativity and so these compounds have dipole-dipole and london dispersion forces.But hydrogen fluoride has hydrogen bonding also.Hence the intermolecular force in is really strong and thus it has much higher melting point compared to the other halides in this group.