‘Stability of a crystal is reflected in the magnitude of its melting points’. 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?
A substance with a high melting point is more stable than a substance with a low melting point, this is because higher the melting point, stronger the intermolecular forces of attraction in that substance/ crystal. Thus, implying greater stability.
The melting points of the above substances are:
Methane → 89.34 K
Diethyl ether → 156.85 K
Solid water → 273 K
Ethyl alcohol → 158.8 K
Observing the data we can say that solid water has the strongest intermolecular force and methane has the weakest.