Sort the following compounds in order of increasing boiling point and explain your reasoning: hydrogen, hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen bromide

Order: hydrogen fluoride > hydrogen bromide > hydrogen.Hydrogen fluoride contains a hydrogen atom bonded directly to a fluorine atom. The fluorine is highly electronegative and so pulls the bonding electrons from the hydrogen, exposing a highly positive nucleus which can undergo hydrogen bonding. Hydrogen bonding is the strongest of all the intermolecular forces so more energy is required to overcome them hence hydrogen fluoride has the highest boiling point.Hydrogen bromide is a polar molecule and so has dipole-dipole forces of attraction. The molecular mass of hydrogen bromide is also much greater than that of hydrogen and so has stronger London dispersion forces. Therefore hydrogen bromide has a higher boiling point than hydrogen which only has weak London dispersion forces.

Answered by Alex M. Chemistry tutor

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