Question

This questions was taken from a quiz. The answer is supposedly E, is this correct and why? Why is the most important part to me. Thanks.

Which of the following should have the highest surface tension at a given temperature? (all in liquid state)
A. CH4
B. CF4
C. CCl4
D. CBr4
E. CH3Cl

Answer 1

Which of the following should have the highest surface tension at a given temperature? (all in liquid state)
Surface tension depends on interacitons between the species

note that for A-D --> they are all NONPOLAR, which mean that they only have dispersion forces ( which are very weak)

For E, CH3CL, this is POLAR, since Chlorine is pretty electronegative, so this means they also have dipole-dipole interaction

Meaning that the energy required to break the "surface" is higher

therefore

CH3Cl is the best answer, since it has stronger forces