Describe and explain the trend in boiling points in the first four hydrogen halides

HF has the highest boiling point this is followed by HI, then HBr with HCl having the lowest boiling point of the four molecules. This is because HF is able to form Hydrogen bonds whereas the other three molecules are unable to do so because their electronegativity is not large enough to create a sufficient dipole. The boiling point then increases down the group from HCl to HI because the halogens increase in size. This means that the van der waal forces are stronger down the group therefore they require more energy to overcome. The more energy that is required to overcome the intermolecular forces the higher the boiling point.

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Answered by Theo M. Chemistry tutor

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