Why is Chlorine a gas Bromine a liquid and Iodine a solid at room temperature?

Answer 1

Van der waals forces are present in all three chlorine, bromine and iodine, however the strength of the van der waals forces depend on the number of electrons. The more electrons present, the stronger the van der waals forces. Iodine has the most electrons as it is furthest down the group followed by bromine, followed by chlorine, therefore the van der waals forces are strongest in iodine and are strong enough to keep it a solid. However in bromine the van der waals forces are weaker as bromine has fewer electrons, so at room temperature there is sufficient energy to break some of these weaker van der waals forces, hence making bromine a liquid. Finally there are far fewer electrons in chlorine so the van der waals forces are very week so there is sufficient energy at room temperature to break these completely and render chlorine a gas.

Answer 2

it basically has to do with the mass and dispersion forces. Iodine has the most mass and the most electrons, so it has the strongest dispersion forces and so is able to exist as a solid. And so on and so forth for bromine and chlorine

Answer 3

it is to do with the intermolecular forces that each element has... iodine has the strongest and is therefore a solid at room temperature... and chlorine has very weak intermolecular forces so it is a gas at room temperature.

Answer 4

Bromine is a chemical element, Br, atomic number 35, atomic weight 79.909, which normally exists as Br2, a dark-red, low-boiling but high-density liquid of intensely irritating http://www.answers.com/topic/odor. This is the only nonmetallic element that is liquid at normal temperature and pressure. Bromine is very reactive chemically; one of the http://www.answers.com/topic/halogen group of elements, it has properties intermediate between those of http://www.answers.com/topic/chlorine and http://www.answers.com/topic/iodine. Therefore, it is a liquid.

Answer 5

The physical state of elements at room temperature is determined by their intermolecular forces. Chlorine exists as a gas due to weak van der Waals forces, Bromine is a liquid because its van der Waals forces are stronger than chlorine's, and Iodine is a solid because it has the strongest van der Waals forces of the three.

Answer 6

Because nigg