Chemical Forums
Chemistry Forums for Students => Undergraduate General Chemistry Forum => Topic started by: fobbz on November 19, 2012, 02:02:54 AM
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Attached is the question. I am unclear as to why the answer is D. I would have thought that Al would have been on the bottom end of the melting points as it is just an element and not a compound. What trends/bonds am I not understanding here?
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I would have thought that Al would have been on the bottom end of the melting points as it is just an element and not a compound.
There is no rule that says that elements have low melting points. Pure metals can have very high melting points, pure helium has no melting point at all (it never solidifies at 1 atm).
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Like Borek: said, there aren't hard and fast rules for the melting of elements and compounds. However, this may be more of an exercise in logic than in chemistry -- we build structures out of aluminum, its a metal, it definitely has a higher melting point. We can melt sulfur with a bunsen burner, you need a torch to melt aluminum.