The boiling point, the temperature at which a substance changes from the liquid to the gaseous state, is a fundamental thermodynamic property that varies considerably between different chemical elements. The property is affected by intermolecular forces, molecular weight, ambient pressure, and other factors. Understanding the boiling point is essential for selecting materials for industrial applications, designing chemical processes, and studying physical phenomena. Alfa Chemistry provides a boiling point table of chemical elements, which lists the boiling point values of some chemical elements for reference.
What Can Affect the Boiling Point of a Chemical Element?
- Intermolecular Forces
Elements with strong intermolecular forces, such as hydrogen bonding or van der Waals forces, exhibit higher boiling points. For instance, water (H2O) has a notably high boiling point for its molar mass due to hydrogen bonding.
- Molecular Weight
Heavier elements generally require more energy to transition to the gas phase, resulting in higher boiling points. However, this trend is modulated by other properties such as bonding and structure.
- Ambient Pressure
The boiling point of a substance is directly proportional to the external pressure. Reduced pressure, such as in vacuum distillations, lowers boiling points, whereas high-pressure environments, like those in pressurized reactors, elevate them.
For example, water boils at 100 ℃ at sea level (1 atm) but boils at 93.4 ℃ at 1,900 meters altitude, where atmospheric pressure is lower. Under extreme pressures, such as 16.5 MPa in a pressurized water reactor, the boiling point of water reaches 350 ℃.
Major Trends in Boiling Points of Chemical Elements
- Lowest Boiling Point: Helium has the lowest boiling point of all the elements, boiling at 4.22 K at standard pressure due to weak van der Waals forces.
- Highest Boiling Points: Refractory metals such as tungsten (boiling point ~5828 K) and rhenium (boiling point ~5869 K) have the highest boiling points due to strong metallic bonds and high melting points. Measuring such extreme temperatures presents significant challenges, resulting in slightly different scientific references.
Knowing boiling points is integral to chemical engineering, metallurgy, and materials science. High-boiling elements such as tungsten are essential for the manufacture of heat-resistant equipment, while low-boiling gases such as helium are vital for cryogenics. These data emphasize the diversity of chemical elements and underscore the critical role of boiling points in scientific and industrial progress.
To find out the melting points of the chemical elements click on Table of Melting Point of Chemical Elements.
We also provide a periodic table for reference.
