Phase Changes

• Phase – homogenous part of a system

that is separated from the rest of the
system by a well-defined boundary
• Phase change – transition from one
phase to another
– Caused by the removal or addition of
energy
– Energy involved is usually in the form of
heat
Phase Change Graph
 Water
• Water exists on our
planet in three states.
• Ice, water, and water
vapor
• What causes water to
be in one phase or
another?
 ENERGY
• When energy is
added to a substance
that energy causes
the particles in the
substance to move
faster and farther
apart.
• What happens to the
particles when energy
is taken away from a
substance?
 Phase Change
• Energy content is responsible for the
different phases of matter.
• Matter can be made to change phase
when energy is added to or taken away
from a substance.
 Adding Energy
• Phase changes that require the addition of
energy are called endothermic changes.
(endo = inside, therm = heat)
• Which phase changes are endothermic?
– Melting (solid  liquid)
– Boiling (liquid  gas)
– Sublimation (solid  gas)
 Removing Energy
• Phase changes that require the addition of
energy are called exothermic changes.
(exo = outside, therm = heat)
• Which phase changes are exothermic?
– Freezing (liquid  solid)
– Condensation (gas  liquid)
– Deposition (reverse sublimation) (gas  solid)
You may remember from earlier in the year
that you can change phases

Deposition Condensation

Sublimation Evaporation

Melting

Freezing
The Six Possible Phase Changes
 Melting- Solid to Liquid
• Melting is the
changing of a solid to
a liquid when the
substance absorbs
heat energy.
• Melting Point
– Water 0° C.
– Table salt 801° C.
– Diamond 3700° C.
 Freezing- Liquid to Solid
• Opposite of melting:
liquid changing to a
solid is freezing.
• Freezing occurs when
a substance loses
heat energy.
 Vaporization- Liquid to Gas
• Vaporization is the
changing of a liquid to
a gas when the
substance absorbs
heat energy.
• Vaporization
occurring at the
surface of a liquid is
called evaporation.
Evaporation- a Cooling Process
• As water in the
perspiration
evaporates from your
skin it absorbs and
carries away heat
energy from your
body.
 Boiling
• If enough heat energy
is applied to a
substance particles
inside the liquid can
change to gas.
• These particles travel
to the surface of the
liquid and then into
the air. This process
is called boiling.
Phase Change Graph
 Boiling Point
• Boiling Point –
temperature at which
a substance boils.
– Water 100° C.
– Table salt 1413° C.
– Diamond 4200° C.
• What is the difference
between evaporation
and boiling?
 Condensation- Gas to Liquid
• A substance in the
gas phase that loses
heat will change to a
liquid. This is called
condensation.
 Condensation

• Water vapor in surrounding air loses heat energy when it

comes in contact with the cold glass. Water vapor
condenses and becomes liquid drops of water.
 Sublimation – Solid to Liquid

• Solid to gas phase

change occurs when
the surface particles
of a solid change
directly into a gas.
 Sublimation – Solid to Liquid

• You may notice this in

the cold winter with
snow. The snow does
not melt, but slowly
disappears.
• Dry ice goes directly
from solid carbon
dioxide to gas.
Energy in Phase Change
 Phase Equilibrium
 The state in which a chemical process and the
reverse chemical process occur at the same rate
 Some Points
 Boiling Point
• The temperature and pressure at which a liquid and a
gas are in equilibrium
 Melting Point
• The temperature and pressure at which a solid becomes
a liquid.
 Freezing Point
• The temperature and pressure at which a liquid
substance freezes
 Two more points
 Triple point
• The temperature and pressure conditions at which the
solid, liquid and gaseous phases of a substance coexist
at equilibrium
 Critical Point
• The temperature and pressure at which the gas and
liquid states of a substance become identical and form
one phase – the supercritical fluid
Every substance has different
values for these points
As a result, each substance has a
different phase diagram
 Phase Diagrams
• Phase diagram – summarizes the
conditions (temperature and pressure) at
which a substance exists as a solid, liquid
or gas
– Divided into three regions (solid, liquid, gas)
– Phase boundary line – line separating any
two regions
– Triple point – the point at which all three
phase boundary lines meet
 Phase Diagrams
• The AB line is the liquid-vapor interface.
• It starts at the triple point (A), the point at
which all three states are in equilibrium.
 Phase Diagrams
It ends at the critical point (B); above this
critical temperature and critical pressure the
liquid and vapor are indistinguishable from
each other.
 Phase Diagrams
• Each point along this line is the boiling point
of the substance at that pressure.
– Pressure = Force / area
– Increasing pressure causes the molecules to be
condensed making the molecular arrangement
closer
 Phase Diagrams
• The AD line is the interface between liquid
and solid.
• The melting point at each pressure can be
found along this line.
 Phase Diagrams
• Below A the substance cannot exist in the
liquid state.
• Along the AC line the solid and gas phases
are in equilibrium; the sublimation point at
each pressure is along this line.
 Phase Diagrams
• As temperature increases, the average
kinetic energy of the substance increases
causing the spacing between the molecules
to increase and eventually change phase
Phase Diagram of H2O
Phase Diagram of Water
• Note the high critical temperature
and critical pressure:
– These are due to the strong van der
Waals forces between water
molecules.

• The slope of the solid–liquid

line is negative.
– This means that increasing the
pressure above 1 atm will raise
the boiling point (as expected)
and lower the melting point.
Phase Diagram of CO2
 Phase Diagram of Carbon Dioxide
Carbon dioxide cannot exist in the liquid state at pressures
below 5.11 atm; CO2 sublimes at normal pressures.
 Phase Diagram of Carbon Dioxide
Carbon dioxide cannot exist in the liquid state at pressures
below 5.11 atm; CO2 sublimes at normal pressures.

At 1 atm, solid CO2 does not melt at any temperature.

Instead, it sublimes to form CO2 vapor. Why might it be
useful as a refrigerant?
 Phase Diagram of Carbon Dioxide
Carbon dioxide cannot exist in the liquid state at pressures
below 5.11 atm; CO2 sublimes at normal pressures.

If you want to send something frozen across the country,

you can pack it in dry ice. It will be frozen when it reaches
its destination, and there will be no messy liquid left over
like you would have with normal ice.
Phase Diagram of Carbon Dioxide
The low critical
temperature and
critical pressure for
CO2 make
supercritical CO2 a
good solvent for
extracting nonpolar
substances (such as
caffeine).
The slope of the curve between solid and liquid is positive for
CO2 as well as almost all other substances. Why does water
differ?