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Nitrogen is a gas at room temperature. It needs to be cooled to –196 °C to condense to a liquid and freezes at –210 °C. Do you think the attractions between nitrogen molecules are strong or weak? Why?

a. Strong, because of low freezing point

b. Weak, because of low boiling point

c. Weak, because of high freezing point

d. Strong, because of high boiling point

1 Answer

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Final answer:

The attractions between nitrogen molecules are weak due to nitrogen's low boiling and freezing points, which imply that minimal energy is needed to overcome the intermolecular forces present.

Step-by-step explanation:

The attractions between nitrogen molecules are considered weak because nitrogen is a gas at room temperature and it has a very low boiling point. To transform nitrogen into a liquid, it must be cooled to –196 °C, and its freezing point is even lower at –210 °C. The low boiling and freezing points indicate that little energy is required to overcome the intermolecular forces. This is characteristic of elements that exhibit primarily weak van der Waals forces, such as London dispersion forces, which are the weakest type of intermolecular attractions. In contrast, higher boiling and melting points typically suggest stronger intermolecular forces, such as hydrogen bonding or ionic attraction, those require more energy to overcome. Since nitrogen has a very low boiling and freezing point compared to other elements, the correct answer to the question is b. Weak, because of low boiling point.

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