Explain why:(a) Covalent compounds have generally low melting points.
(b) Ionic compounds have generally high melting points.

(a) Covalent compounds generally have a low melting point because they are made up of electrically neutral molecules. Therefore, the force of attraction between the molecules are very weak. Thus, less amount of energy is required to break these molecular forces.

(b) Ionic compounds generally have a high melting point because they have strong electrostatic forces of attraction between ions. Thus, it requires more energy to break the molecular forces.