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Boiling point
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The boiling point of an element or a substance is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of the liquid equals the environmental pressure surrounding the liquid.[1][2] A liquid in a vacuum environment has a lower boiling point than when the liquid is at atmospheric pressure. A liquid in a high pressure environment has a higher boiling point than when the liquid is at atmospheric pressure. In other words, the boiling point of liquids varies with and depends upon the surrounding environmental pressure (which tends to vary with elevation). Different liquids (at a given pressure) boil at different temperatures. The normal boiling point (also called the atmospheric boiling point or the atmospheric pressure boiling point) of a liquid is the special case in which the vapor pressure of the liquid equals the defined atmospheric pressure at sea level, 1 atmosphere.[3][4] At that temperature, the vapor pressure of the liquid becomes sufficient to overcome atmospheric pressure and lift the liquid to form bubbles inside the bulk of the liquid. The standard boiling point is now (as of 1982) defined by IUPAC as the temperature at which boiling occurs under a pressure of 1 bar.[5] The heat of vaporization is the amount of energy required to convert or vaporize a saturated liquid (i.e., a liquid at its boiling point) into a vapor. Liquids may change to a vapor at temperatures below their boiling points through the process of evaporation. Evaporation is a surface phenomenon in which molecules located near the vapor/liquid surface escape into the vapor phase. On the other hand, boiling is a process in which molecules anywhere in the liquid escape, resulting in the formation of vapor bubbles within the liquid.
Contents
1 Saturation temperature and pressure 2 Relation between the normal boiling point and the vapor pressure of liquids 3 Properties of the elements 4 See also 5 External links 6 References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_point
8/29/2010
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If the pressure in a system remains constant (isobaric), a vapor at saturation temperature will begin to condense into its liquid phase as thermal energy (heat) is removed. Similarly, a liquid at saturation temperature and pressure will boil into its vapor phase as additional thermal energy is applied. The boiling point corresponds to the temperature at which the vapor pressure of the liquid equals the surrounding environmental pressure. Thus, the boiling point is dependent on the pressure. Usually, boiling points are published with respect to atmospheric pressure (101.325 kilopascals or 1 atm). At higher elevations, where the atmospheric pressure is much lower, the boiling point is also lower. The boiling point increases with increased pressure up to the critical point, where the gas and liquid properties become identical. The boiling point cannot be increased beyond the critical point. Likewise, the boiling point decreases with decreasing pressure until the triple point is reached. The boiling point cannot be reduced below the triple point. If the heat of vaporization and the vapor pressure of a liquid at a certain temperature is known, the normal boiling point can be calculated by using the Clausius-Clapeyron equation thus:
where:
TB = the normal boiling point, K R = the ideal gas constant, 8.314 J K-1 mol-1 P0 = is the vapor pressure at a given temperature, atm
Hvap = the heat of vaporization of the liquid, J/mol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_point
8/29/2010
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Relation between the normal boiling point and the vapor pressure of liquids
The higher the vapor pressure of a liquid at a given temperature, the lower the normal boiling point (i.e., the boiling point at atmospheric pressure) of the liquid. The vapor pressure chart to the right has graphs of the vapor pressures versus temperatures for a variety of liquids.[6] As can be seen in the chart, the liquids with the highest vapor pressures have the lowest normal boiling points. For example, at any given temperature, propane has the highest vapor pressure of any of the liquids in the chart. It also has the lowest normal boiling point (-42.1 C), which is where the vapor pressure curve of propane (the purple line) intersects the horizontal pressure line of one atmosphere (atm) of absolute vapor pressure. In terms of intermolecular interactions, the boiling point represents the point at which the liquid molecules possess enough thermal energy to overcome the various intermolecular attractions binding the molecules as liquid (e.g. dipole-dipole A typical vapor pressure chart for various liquids attraction, instantaneous-dipole induced-dipole attractions, and hydrogen bonds) and therefore incur a phase change into the next phase (gas). Therefore the boiling point of a liquid is also an indicator of the strength of weak attractive forces between the liquid's molecules.
See also
Boiling-point elevation Critical point (thermodynamics) Ebulliometer Joback method (Estimation of normal boiling points from molecular structure) Superheating
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_point
8/29/2010
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Trouton's constant
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_point" Categories: Thermodynamics | Fundamental physics concepts | Temperature This page was last modified on 23 August 2010 at 01:50. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_point
8/29/2010