Why does sodium have a low melting point?

Answer 1

Because it is a fairly non-polar molecule (it is a hydrocarbon, and most hydrocarbons are non-polar) and water is a polar solvent. Like dissolves like!

See the Related Questions for how to determine if a molecule is polar or non-polar.

Answer 2

Water has a lower melting point because it is soluble in many things. However, naphthalene is not. Without being soluble in a lot solutions the naphthalene has a higher melting point because of how it's formed.

Answer 3

Naphtalene is a totally apolar compound (bicyclo-dibenzene, C10H8, a hydrocarbon) with no hydrogen bonds or other polar groups.

Benzoic acid has one carbonic acid group attached to benzene, which makes it more polar and with intramolacular attraction by hydrogen bonding.

Answer 4

Napthalene is considered to be an aromatic compound and as such is subject to a trigonal planar shape at every bonding site, making the molecule extremely flat. Because the molecule is really flat it is able to more easily pack napthalene molecules together, in other words there is more surface area for the london dispersion forces to hold onto the molecules. Waxes are long fatty acid/fatty alcohol esters and thus also have a lot of surface area for the london forces to interact, however the molecule is anything but flat due to the multiple sp3 tetrahedral carbon-hydrogen bonds so it is less able to "pack".

Answer 5

Sodium oxide has a high melting point because of the strength of its bonds. Due to having strong bonds, they cannot be broken very easily.

Answer 6

it does not have very high melting point 79 - 82 C but boiling point 217 - 218 C

Answer 7

Sodium oxide is an ionic compound with a strong lattice.

Answer 8

because stearic acid does not give a sharp melting or freezing point as it is rarely pure. Naphthalene is much better

Answer 9

It has a weak atomic bond