Question

1. Which would exhibit stronger intermolecular attractive forces, methanol or ethanol, and why? 2. Solid salts form due to electrostatic interaction between cations and anions. Why do some salts dissolve in water and others do not?

Answer 1

1) The intermolecular attraction is more in case of ethanol than in methanol. Both of the alcohol exhibit intermolecular hydrogen bonding among themselves, however as the number of carbon atoms increseas hydrophobic interaction increases and hence a joint venture of both hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interaction works together . Thus, ethanol exhibit a higher intermleular attraction. This is the reason that the boiling point of ethanol is higher than methanol.