I've been given a table with the following information:
Br-Br bonding energy (298 K): 192.807 kJ/mol
Br2 vaporization energy: 30.91 kJ/mol
boiling point of bromine: 332 K
The question reads, "A chemist heats liquid bromine to 335K, and a gas forms. Is the change that occurs a physical change, a chemical change, or both? Support your answer using the data and a discussion of intramolecular and intermolecular forces."
I want to say that this is a physical change because the chemist heated the bromine past its boiling point, so doesn't that mean it was vaporized? The bond energy is so much higher than that vaporization energy that I don't see how the heating would have added enough energy to break the covalent bonds, except for the little 298 K they put by the bond energy. Would that, then, indicate that bonds were broken and this is thus a chemical change? Is it even possible for it to be both?
Thanks for any assistance!