Why does the compound magnesium oxide has a high melting point?

Answer 1

Why? Because #MgO# is a non-molecular solid.....held together by strong electrostatic bonds........

#MgO# is a non-molecular, ionic solid. The material consists of an infinite array of magnesium and oxide ions that are held together by strong electrostatic bonds that persist thruout the entire lattice.

As chemists, as physical scientists, we should look at some data. The melting point of #MgO# is #2852# #""^@C#. That of #MgCl_2# is #714# #""^@C#. Clearly, the double charge of each constituent ion in #MgO# strengthens the electrostatic interaction.

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Answer 2

Noah Aldrich

Magnesium oxide has a high melting point due to its strong ionic bonds between magnesium and oxygen ions. These bonds require a significant amount of energy to break, resulting in a high melting point for the compound.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.