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Question

Why is hydrogen fluoride a liquid unlike other hydrogen halides?


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Solution

Hydrogen bonding:

  • Hydrogen bonding is an electrostatic attraction between a hydrogen atom covalently bonded to a highly electronegative atom and another electronegative atom in the vicinity.
  • Example: Water and chloroform.
  • Two types of hydrogen bonding exist intermolecular hydrogen bonding and intramolecular hydrogen bonding.

Hydrogen fluoride is a liquid:

  • Due to the high electronegativity of the fluorine atom, there is strong intermolecular hydrogen bonding between hydrogen and the fluorine atom in hydrogen fluoride HF.
  • HF is in a liquid state at room temperature due to this intermolecular hydrogen bonding.
  • Except for HF, all other hydrogen halides are gaseous at room temperature.
  • Cl, Br, and I have less electronegativity than fluorine.
  • As a result, the interaction forces between hydrogen chloride HCl, hydrogen bromide HBr, and hydrogen iodide HI will be weak.

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