Boiling Point ~UPD~
The boiling point of a liquid varies depending upon the surrounding environmental pressure. A liquid in a partial vacuum, i.e., under a lower pressure, has a lower boiling point than when that liquid is at atmospheric pressure. Because of this, water boils at 99.97 C (211.95 F) under standard pressure at sea level, but at 93.4 C (200.1 F) at 1,905 metres (6,250 ft)[3] altitude. For a given pressure, different liquids will boil at different temperatures.
Boiling Point
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, one atmosphere.[4][5] At that temperature, the vapor pressure of the liquid becomes sufficient to overcome atmospheric pressure and allow bubbles of vapor to form inside the bulk of the liquid. The standard boiling point has been defined by IUPAC since 1982 as the temperature at which boiling occurs under a pressure of one bar.[6]
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 liquid's edge, not contained by enough liquid pressure on that side, escape into the surroundings as vapor. 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.
Saturation temperature means boiling point. The saturation temperature is the temperature for a corresponding saturation pressure at which a liquid boils into its vapor phase. The liquid can be said to be saturated with thermal energy. Any addition of thermal energy results in a phase transition.
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. Boiling points may be published with respect to the NIST, USA standard pressure of 101.325 kPa (or 1 atm), or the IUPAC standard pressure of 100.000 kPa. 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.
There are two conventions regarding the standard boiling point of water: The normal boiling point is 99.97 C (211.9 F) at a pressure of 1 atm (i.e., 101.325 kPa). The IUPAC-recommended standard boiling point of water at a standard pressure of 100 kPa (1 bar)[7] is 99.61 C (211.3 F).[6][8] For comparison, on top of Mount Everest, at 8,848 m (29,029 ft) elevation, the pressure is about 34 kPa (255 Torr)[9] and the boiling point of water is 71 C (160 F).The Celsius temperature scale was defined until 1954 by two points: 0 C being defined by the water freezing point and 100 C being defined by the water boiling point at standard atmospheric pressure.
The vapor pressure chart to the right has graphs of the vapor pressures versus temperatures for a variety of liquids.[10] As can be seen in the chart, the liquids with the highest vapor pressures have the lowest normal boiling points.
The element with the lowest boiling point is helium. Both the boiling points of rhenium and tungsten exceed 5000 K at standard pressure; because it is difficult to measure extreme temperatures precisely without bias, both have been cited in the literature as having the higher boiling point.[11]
As can be seen from the above plot of the logarithm of the vapor pressure vs. the temperature for any given pure chemical compound, its normal boiling point can serve as an indication of that compound's overall volatility. A given pure compound has only one normal boiling point, if any, and a compound's normal boiling point and melting point can serve as characteristic physical properties for that compound, listed in reference books. The higher a compound's normal boiling point, the less volatile that compound is overall, and conversely, the lower a compound's normal boiling point, the more volatile that compound is overall. Some compounds decompose at higher temperatures before reaching their normal boiling point, or sometimes even their melting point. For a stable compound, the boiling point ranges from its triple point to its critical point, depending on the external pressure. Beyond its triple point, a compound's normal boiling point, if any, is higher than its melting point. Beyond the critical point, a compound's liquid and vapor phases merge into one phase, which may be called a superheated gas. At any given temperature, if a compound's normal boiling point is lower, then that compound will generally exist as a gas at atmospheric external pressure. If the compound's normal boiling point is higher, then that compound can exist as a liquid or solid at that given temperature at atmospheric external pressure, and will so exist in equilibrium with its vapor (if volatile) if its vapors are contained. If a compound's vapors are not contained, then some volatile compounds can eventually evaporate away in spite of their higher boiling points.
Most volatile compounds (anywhere near ambient temperatures) go through an intermediate liquid phase while warming up from a solid phase to eventually transform to a vapor phase. By comparison to boiling, a sublimation is a physical transformation in which a solid turns directly into vapor, which happens in a few select cases such as with carbon dioxide at atmospheric pressure. For such compounds, a sublimation point is a temperature at which a solid turning directly into vapor has a vapor pressure equal to the external pressure.
In the preceding section, boiling points of pure compounds were covered. Vapor pressures and boiling points of substances can be affected by the presence of dissolved impurities (solutes) or other miscible compounds, the degree of effect depending on the concentration of the impurities or other compounds. The presence of non-volatile impurities such as salts or compounds of a volatility far lower than the main component compound decreases its mole fraction and the solution's volatility, and thus raises the normal boiling point in proportion to the concentration of the solutes. This effect is called boiling point elevation. As a common example, salt water boils at a higher temperature than pure water.
In other mixtures of miscible compounds (components), there may be two or more components of varying volatility, each having its own pure component boiling point at any given pressure. The presence of other volatile components in a mixture affects the vapor pressures and thus boiling points and dew points of all the components in the mixture. The dew point is a temperature at which a vapor condenses into a liquid. Furthermore, at any given temperature, the composition of the vapor is different from the composition of the liquid in most such cases. In order to illustrate these effects between the volatile components in a mixture, a boiling point diagram is commonly used. Distillation is a process of boiling and [usually] condensation which takes advantage of these differences in composition between liquid and vapor phases.
The boiling point of a substance is the temperature at which it changes state from liquid to gas throughout the bulk of the liquid. At the boiling point molecules anywhere in the liquid may be vaporized.
The answer lies in monitoring the temperature of the material with time. When the boiling point is reached, the temperature will not rise again until all of the liquid has evaporated. This is due to the high heat capacity of water (it takes much more energy to convert water from liquid to gas than it does to raise the temperature of liquid water).
Of course, if water is heated under pressure this may raise the boiling point above its normal boiling point of 100 degrees C. Likewise, the addition of a solute may also raise the boiling point, a phenomenon called boiling point elevation (see Further Reading below for more information).
Not all substances have a boiling point. Some substances may decompose into other materials when heated instead of boiling. Wood does not boil, and neither does calcium carbonate, which decomposes to calcium oxide and carbon dioxide when heated. Other substances, such as solid carbon dioxide, may sublime to give gases without ever forming a liquid under normal conditions. However, under higher pressure, carbon dioxide will turn to liquid and then boil as the temperature is raised. Therefore, it is a best scientific practice to always report the external pressure when reporting a boiling point.
Knowing the boiling point of a substance is an important consideration for storage. For example, storing a chemical with a boiling point of 50 oC (122 oF) in direct sunlight or next to a boiler could cause the material to completely vaporize and/or result in a fire or explosion.
Items with a low boiling point generally have a high vapor pressure. Containers of such material can build up signicant pressure even when they are below their boiling point. Likewise, low-boiling materials easily produce large amounts of vapor which can be flammable or even explosive.
Hi Maria,For pure water, the boiling point is 100 degrees Celsius (212 Fahrenheit) at one atmosphere of pressure, and the melting point is 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) at one atmosphere of pressure. At at high altitudes the lower pressure makes the boiling point several degrees lower. For example, in Denver, Colorado, the boiling point is about 95C or 203F. 041b061a72