boiling point

[sarahtang4B]

Predict which would have a higher boiling point, NH3 or PH3, and explain.
Discuss the forces involved.

[Douglas Nguyen 2J]

NH3 will have a greater boiling point than PH3 because of hydrogen bonding. NH3 is capable of having hydrogen bonds and PH3 is not because nitrogen is significantly more electronegative, thus creating a dipole moment with a partial positive charge on the hydrogens and a partial negative charge on the nitrogen.

Hydrogen bonding occurs when the central atom (between hydrogens) is N, O, or F and has a lone pair of electrons.

[Gillian Ward 1F]

When looking at boiling point, you want to examine intermolecular forces. Since NH3 is going to have stronger intermolecular forces (N--H is hydrogen bonding which is the strongest IMF) the boiling point will be greater.

[shouse1f]

stronger intermolecular forces mean a high boiling point so whichever molecule has stronger forces, which in this case is NH3, will have a high boiling point.

[Rehan Chinoy 1K]

Since NH3 exhibits hydrogen bonding while PH3 does not, NH3 has the higher boiling point.

[Bella Martin]

I think of boiling points as increasing the energy to break down a bond. So say you're cooking something, you'd have to turn the heat up to provide more energy in order to break up a strongly bonded molecule.