On the basis of your understanding of bonding in liquids and solids, arrange the following substances from the highest to lowest melting points: NaCl Na Cl₂ SiO₂

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SiO₂ (silicon dioxide) has a very high melting point due to its network covalent solid structure, where atoms are bonded by strong covalent bonds in a lattice. NaCl (sodium chloride) is an ionic compound with a high melting point, but lower than SiO₂ because ionic bonds, while strong, are not as strong as the covalent bonds in SiO₂. Na (sodium) is a metallic solid with metallic bonding, which generally has lower melting points than ionic compounds. Cl₂ (chlorine) is a molecular solid with weak van der Waals forces holding the molecules together, resulting in the lowest melting point among the given substances.

On the Basis of Your Understanding of Bonding in Liquids