The boiling points of alkanes increase as the length of the carbon chain increases but decrease as the amount of branching increases.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The boiling point of alkanes increases with the length of the carbon chain due to the increase in van der Waals forces. However, branching decreases the surface area in contact between molecules, reducing these forces and thus lowering the boiling point.

The Boiling Points of Alkanes Increase as the Length of the Carbon