Final answer:
Amorphous solids do not have a single melting point due to their lack of an ordered internal structure, unlike crystalline solids like ice and table sugar which have precise melting points.
Step-by-step explanation:
Amorphous solids do not melt (and freeze) at a single temperature. Unlike crystalline solids, which have a well-defined and organized structure, amorphous solids, such as glass and some plastics, lack an ordered arrangement of their particles. As these particles are randomly arranged, amorphous solids tend to soften over a range of temperatures rather than having a sharp melting point. Crystalline solids, on the other hand, have a precise melting point where the solid and liquid phases are in equilibrium. For example, ice has a melting point of 0°C, and table sugar melts at 185°C because their molecular structures are well-ordered, leading to a precise melting point.
Molecular solids such as ice and table sugar do not melt (and freeze) at a single temperature. The melting points of molecular solids depend on the strength of the attractive forces between the molecules.
Small symmetrical molecules with weak attractive forces have very low melting points, while substances consisting of larger nonpolar or polar molecules will have higher melting points. For example, ice has a melting point of 0 °C, and table sugar has a melting point of 185 °C.
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