[ellis1101]

Hi,
If you were given a compound, is it possible to calculate the exact boiling point?
Or if you were given 2 or more different compounds, would you be able to tell which boils at a higher temperature?
For example, if you had:
CH₃Cl and PH₃, how do you know which boils at a higher temperature?

Thanks a lot, please reply!

[Yggdrasil]

Basically, in order to figure out which compound should have a higher boiling point, you have to look at the strength of the intermolecular forces that hold the liquids together.  Compounds that interact using weaker intermolecular forces (e.g. London dispersion forces) will have a lower boiling point.  Similarly, compounds that interact using stronger intermolecular forces (e.g. dipole-dipole interactions, hydrogen bonds, ionic bonds, etc.) will have higher boiling points.

So, to approach this question, I would first try to determine the types of intermolecular forces involved in holding solutions of each of these compounds together.