Final answer:
Impurities in a pure sample lead to the broadening of the melting point range due to disruptions in the crystal lattice structure, which is critical for applications like silicon crystal production in the electronic industry.
Step-by-step explanation:
The presence of impurities in a pure sample tends to cause the melting point range to broaden. This is because impurities disrupt the regular crystal lattice structure of the pure substance, leading to a melting process that occurs over a range of temperatures rather than at a sharp, single melting point. Applying this knowledge, for substances such as electronic industry silicon crystals, which require extreme purity levels for IC chips production, even a minute presence of impurity atoms can significantly affect their structure and properties. In general, pure substances have sharply defined melting or boiling points, while impure substances display a broadened melting or boiling point range.