Melting point of solid argon vs. xenon

[JamieVu_2C]

Why is the melting point of xenon higher than that of argon?

[nicolely2F]

It's a larger atom, so it requires more energy to separate the additional electrons orbiting its nucleus.

[Michael Nguyen 1E]

Argon and Xenon are both nonpolar. Therefore, the only forces that they experience are induced-dipole induced-dipole forces. Since Xenon is a larger atom than Argon and has more electrons, these induced-dipole induced-dipole forces are stronger in Xenon than in Argon. Therefore, it would take more energy to break Xenon's intermolecular forces than to break Argon's intermolecular forces, which means that Xenon has a higher melting point than Argon.