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EXPLAIN WHY CO² IS A GAS WHILE SIO² IS A SOLID

The reason why CO² is a gas is because of the structure of the CO².
 Two of carbon's valence electrons hybridize into two SP hybrid orbitals. As a result, the molecule is one dimensional with an angle of 180° between bonds and completely non-polar.
The SI , on the other hand, does not form such bonds and the angle is far from 180°, which in conjunction with oxygens high electronegativity makes it quite polar.
 Thus the interaction between neighboring SI and O atoms of different SIO² molecules is much higher and as a consequence you need much more energy to break the solid, giving it an increased melting point.
  • Reason why CO2 is a gas while SIO2 is a solid The polarity of this carbon oxygen bond is very low and the attraction force that holds molecule is weak dispersion forces and hence CO² is a gas. It contains only single bond between Silicon and Oxygen.   Also SiO² has a covalent bonded network structure which makes it solid and having high melting point.

  SiO2 is a solid because it contains only single bond between Silicon and Oxygen. 
Also SiO2 has a covalent bonded network structure which makes it solid and having high melting point.
 Why is CO2 a gas but SiO2 is a solid???
It is Because CO2 forms discrete molecules with one carbon atom bonded to two oxygen atoms.
Only very weak dispersion intermolecular forces hold the molecules together and CO2 is a gas at room temperature. 


SiO2 is a network covalent solid. Each silicon makes four bonds by making four SiO single bonds. The covalent network leads to a very strongly bonded solid with a very high melting point.

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