Physical propierties of alkanes
Submitted by Germán Fernández on Fri, 09/09/2022 - 12:33
- Interaction by London forces: In alkanes, the melting points increase with increasing molecular size, a larger surface area produces a greater attraction due to London forces.
- Boiling points also increase with molecular weight, the heavier a molecule is, the more energy it requires to go from the liquid to the gaseous state.
- Branched alkanes have smaller surface areas than their linear isomers, so the attractive forces are lower, leading to lower melting and boiling points.
- Alkanes are insoluble in water due to their almost zero polarity. Their densities are between 0.6 and 0.8 g/ml, so they float in water.
