The melting points of two substances, A and B, and the abilities of the substances to conduct an electric current when solid and when molten.One of the substances has an ionic structure and one has a simple molecular, covalent structure. Explain, in terms of bonding and the forces between the particles, the relative melting points and abilities to conduct the electric current of substances A and B – 9008

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1. Substance A has a low melting point, which means it has weak forces between its molecules. These are called intermolecular forces, and they are easy to break. Not much energy is needed to separate the molecules, which is why it might even be a liquid at room temperature. It doesn’t conduct electricity when solid or molten, because it has no ions or free electrons. This means substance A is covalent.
   Substance B has a high melting point, which means it has strong forces between particles. These are electrostatic forces between positive and negative ions. A lot of heat energy is needed to break these forces. It conducts electricity when molten because the ions are free to move, but it doesn’t conduct when solid because the ions are fixed in place. So, substance B is ionic.

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