Practice Problem

The boiling points of halogen compounds are less easily rationalized. The number of electrons, their polarizability, and the number of nuclei all influence the boiling point. Seven halogenated organic compounds are listed in the following table. They all have similar numbers of electrons (62 to 72) and, except for bromine, similar molecular weights (130 to 142). However, the number of individual atoms that compose each molecule varies considerably.
The boiling points of these compounds also vary markedly, ranging from -78 ° to 154 °C. It is instructive to estimate the relative boiling point order from the structures given, by entering a number in the text box beneath each compound. As before, 1 is highest boiling & 7 is lowest boiling.

Compound	CH3-I	(CH3)3C-Br	Br2			CH3CCl3	CF3CF3
Mol.Wt.	142	137	160	131	139	133	138
Number of Electrons	62	68	70	70	72	66	66
Number of Atomic Nuclei	5	14	2	19	15	8	8
Estimated B.P. Order

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