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Thomas
Lv 7
Thomas asked in Science & MathematicsChemistry · 7 years ago

Are there any compounds with boiling points lower than all their consitituent elements?

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  • 7 years ago
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    One way to narrow the search for these compounds is to consider hydrogen. It has one of the lowest boiling points of any elements and its boiling point is only higher than that of helium. Anything with hydrogen atoms can be ruled out of consideration. This means that no hydrocarbons qualify.

    One compound that does qualify is carbon monoxide, CO. Carbon has a boiling point of 4827 degrees Celsius. Oxygen, O2, has a boiling point of -183 degrees Celsius. However, CO has a boiling point of -191.5 degrees Celsius, which is indeed less than the boiling point of O2. This example proves there is at least one compound that satisfies your question. There are probably even more that exist.

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