So why do we care about intermolecular attractive forces? Think about water molecules. When an ice cube melts or when water boils in a pan on the stove, the covalent bonds holding the hydrogen and oxygen atoms together in the molecule remain intact. However, the attractions between water molecules, the intermolecular attractions, are affected by melting and boiling. Intermolecular attractions influence a variety of physical properties of compounds including melting points, boiling points, and solubility (ability to dissolve). In the last activity, you investigated the types of intermolecular attractive forces that cause molecules to attract. In this activity, you will investigate how these intermolecular attractive forces determine the melting point, boiling point, and solubility of a substance.