Question

Which among the following has the highest boiling point?
A. ${{Xe}}$
B. ${{{H}}_2}$
C. ${{He}}$
D. ${{Ne}}$

Answer 1

Hint: Xenon (${{Xe}}$), Helium (${{He}}$), and Neon (${{Ne}}$) are noble gases. While hydrogen, ${{{H}}_2}$ is a gas molecule. The boiling point depends upon the molecular weight. And we know that the molecular weight is increased with the increase in the atomic number.

Complete step by step solution:
The noble gases are also called group $0$ elements. They do not have the ability to bond with other elements. This is because these elements are very stable, thereby it cannot combine with other elements. They are said to be chemically inert.
The following represents the given elements and their atomic number:
${{Xe - 54}}$
${{He - 2}}$
${{Ne - 10}}$
${{H - 1}}$
The only difference among the given options is that a hydrogen atom is a molecule while others are noble gases. ${{{H}}_2}$ molecule is made up of one type of atom. Thus all of them are non-polar.
When the atomic size increases, the electron clouds of these will be more polarized. Thus the van der Waals forces become weak. Thus the boiling point increases down the group of noble gases. Also, Xenon has larger mass than helium, neon and hydrogen molecules. Since the atomic size is more, the valence electrons are loosely held with the nucleus.
So we can conclude from the above points that xenon has the highest boiling point.

Hence, the correct option is A.

Note: The following table represents the atomic mass and boiling points of given noble gases and hydrogen gas:

Elements/Molecules	Boiling point	Atomic mass
Xenon	$ - {108.1^ \circ }{{C}}$	$131.93$
Helium	${{ - 268}}{{.}}{{{9}}^ \circ }{{C}}$	$4.008$
Neon	$ - {246^ \circ }{{C}}$	$20.18$
Hydrogen molecule	${{ - 252}}{{.}}{{{9}}^ \circ }{{C}}$	$2.016$

Among these elements, helium has the lowest boiling point. Hydrogen molecules have a value between the value between helium atoms and neon.