Photo AI
Ammonia has a simple molecular structure - OCR Gateway - GCSE Chemistry - Question 8 - 2020 - Paper 1
Question 8
Ammonia has a simple molecular structure. Which statement explains why ammonia has a low melting point and a low boiling point? A The covalent bonds between the at... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Ammonia has a simple molecular structure - OCR Gateway - GCSE Chemistry - Question 8 - 2020 - Paper 1
Step 1
Which statement explains why ammonia has a low melting point and a low boiling point?
Answer
The correct explanation for ammonia's low melting point and low boiling point is that
D: The intermolecular forces between the molecules are weak.
Explanation:
Ammonia (NH₃) has a simple molecular structure where the forces holding the molecules together are relatively weak.
Although ammonia has strong covalent bonds between its atoms, the attractions between individual ammonia molecules (intermolecular forces) are much weaker. This allows the molecules to move apart with less energy, resulting in lower melting and boiling points.