'Stability of a crystal is reflected in the magnitude of its melting point'. Comment. Collect melting points of solid water, ethyl alcohol, diethyl ether and methane from a data book. What can you say about the intermolecular forces between these molecules?
Higher the melting point, greater is the intermolecular force of attraction and greater is the stability. A substance with higher melting point is more stable than a substance with lower melting point.
The melting points of the given substances are:
Solid water → 273 K
Ethyl alcohol → 158.8 K
Diethyl ether → 156.85 K
Methane → 89.34 K
Now, on observing the values of the melting points, it can be said that among the given substances, the intermolecular force in solid water is the strongest and that in methane is the weakest.