Question
Account for the following:
tert-butanol is more volatile than n-butanol.
Solution
tert-butanol and n-butanol have the same molecular mass but t-butanol is more branched. As branching increases, Van der Waals forces increases due to decrease in surface area, t-butanol has a lower boiling point than n-butanol. Hence t-butanol is more volatile than n-butanol.
