Comparing Methane and Methanol

   methane            methanol

  Why is methane a gas at room temperature and methanol a liquid? 

Take a look at the electrostatic potential map of  the molecules below showing charge distribution.   The red indicates a region with a negative charge  and the blue indicates a positive charge. 

methane            methanol

The methane molecule has an overall white color - what does this indicate?

The methanol molecule has a region of blue and a region of red indicating that the charge is unevenly distributed - the molecule is polar.

To be continued ...

   polarity -->  IMFs

Shari Chapman            Richard Montgomery High School            6/2003

Return to Modeling and Visualization in Chemistry Workshop webpage.