Difference in Boiling Points of Butanoic Acid and Pentanal

SCIENTIFIC REPORT EXPLAINING THE DIFFERENCE IN THE BOILING POINTS OF
BUTANOIC ACID AND PENTANAL.
NAME OF THE STUDENT.
SCHOOL AFFILIATION.
DATE.

SCIENTIFIC REPORT EXPLAINING THE DIFFERENCE IN THE BOILING POINTS OF
BUTANOIC ACID AND PENTANAL.
Boiling point is the transition phase where the attractive forces in liquids are completely
broken and the liquid is changed into a gaseous state. According to Damaceno, Jesus, Ceriani
(2018 p.89), organic substances are held by four types of intermolecular forces: Ionic forces,
hydrogen bonding, dipole-dipole moments and Van der Waals dispersion forces. Ionic bonds
impart the highest boiling points in organic compounds followed by those with hydrogen bonds
then dipole-dipole moments and lastly are the Van der Waals dispersion forces that have the
lowest boiling points. Depending on the functional group on the organic compound, the boiling
points differ. An example is compounds with OH groups like the carboxylic acids have higher
boiling points than the aldehydes with the COH group that contains dipole-dipole moments.
According to Damaceno et al (2018 p.121), molecular structure of the molecules affects the
surface area of the molecules which in turn affects the Van der Waals dispersion forces and
hence, the boiling points of the molecules. A long chain organic compound increases the surface
area of the molecule and the molecular weight of the molecule. Hence, the ability of the
individual molecules to attract each other is also increased. The interactions result in increased
dispersion forces and subsequently higher boiling points.

SCIENTIFIC REPORT EXPLAINING THE DIFFERENCE IN THE BOILING POINTS OF
BUTANOIC ACID AND PENTANAL.
Compound structure (Juntarachat,Bouvier,Lepoutre,Roland,Sainte,Granet,Salmon,Rigou,Chalier,
2013 p.89).
Branched molecular structures however decrease boiling points of compounds as the surface area
will be decreased and consequently the dispersion forces too will be weakened.
Compound structure (Juntarachat et al, 2014 p.132).