... lower temperature. BOILING POINT PRINCIPLE: Molecules which strongly interact or bond with each other through a variety of intermolecular forces can not move easily or rapidly and therefore, do not achieve the kinetic energy necessary to escape the liquid state. Therefore, molecules with strong intermolecular forces will have higher boiling points. This is a consequence of the increased kinetic energy needed to break the intermolecular bonds so that individual molecules may escape the liquid as gases. THE BOILING POINT CAN BE A ROUGH MEASURE OF THE AMOUNT OF ENERGY NECESSARY TO SEPARATE A LIQUID MOLECULE FROM ITS NEAREST NEIGHBORS. MOLECULAR WEIGHT AND CHAIN LENGTH TRENDS IN BOILING POINTS A series of alkanes demonstrates the general principle that boiling points increase as molecular weight or chain length increases (table 1.). Table 1. BOILING POINTS OF ALKANES Formula Name Boiling Point C Normal State at Room Temp. +20 C CH4 Methane ...

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