Re: Because Isooctane and Methane are both made of the same elments (Carbon and

Date: Tue Mar 2 10:01:20 1999
Posted By: Vineet Gupta, Post-doc/Fellow, Molecular Biophysics, Rockefeller University
Area of science: Chemistry
ID: 919268815.Ch

Message:


Although both methane and isooctane are made up of the same elements -
C, H, and O - their respective molecular weights are very different.

Methane has a molecular weight of 16 (molecular formula = CH4).
Iso-octane has a molecular weight of 114 (molecular formula = C8H18).

The boiling point is generally roughly proportional to the molecular weight
of an organic compound. Since the molecular weight of iso-octane is much 
higher than that of methane, it's boiling point is much higher as well.

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