Solubility of alcohols in water
Small alcohols are completely soluble in water; mixing the two in any proportion generates a single solution. However, solubility decreases as the length of the hydrocarbon chain in the alcohol increases. At four carbon atoms and beyond, the decrease in solubility is noticeable; a two-layered substance may appear in a test tube when the two are mixed.
Consider ethanol as a typical small alcohol. In both pure water and pure ethanol the main intermolecular attractions are hydrogen bonds.
The energy released when these new hydrogen bonds form approximately compensates for the energy …show more content…
The only new attractions between the alkane and the water molecules are Van der Waals forces. These forces do not release a sufficient amount of energy to compensate for the energy required to break the hydrogen bonds in water.; the alkane does not dissolve. http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Organic_Chemistry/Hydrocarbons/Alkanes/Properties_of_Alkanes/Physical_Properties_of_Alkanes 3. Diamond and graphite are both made of pure carbon. Diamond is the hardest known substance and cannot conduct electricity, while graphite is very soft and can conduct electricity. Analyse how the intermolecular forces acting within these substances lead to the different properties
Diamond
Diamond has a giant molecular structure. Each carbon atom is covalently bonded to four other carbon atoms. A lot of energy is needed to separate the atoms in diamond. This is because covalent bonds are strong, and diamond contains very many covalent bonds. This makes diamond's melting point and boiling point very high.There are no free electrons or ions in diamond, so it does not conduct