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Vapor pressure, partial pressure, and dalton’s law

Vapor pressure is defined as the pressure at which a gas coexists with its solid or liquid phase. Vapor pressure is created by faster molecules that break away from the liquid or solid and enter the gas phase. The vapor pressure of a substance depends on both the substance and its temperature—an increase in temperature increases the vapor pressure.

Partial pressure is defined as the pressure a gas would create if it occupied the total volume available. In a mixture of gases, the total pressure is the sum of partial pressures of the component gases , assuming ideal gas behavior and no chemical reactions between the components. This law is known as Dalton’s law of partial pressures    , after the English scientist John Dalton (1766–1844), who proposed it. Dalton’s law is based on kinetic theory, where each gas creates its pressure by molecular collisions, independent of other gases present. It is consistent with the fact that pressures add according to Pascal’s Principle . Thus water evaporates and ice sublimates when their vapor pressures exceed the partial pressure of water vapor in the surrounding mixture of gases. If their vapor pressures are less than the partial pressure of water vapor in the surrounding gas, liquid droplets or ice crystals (frost) form.

Is energy transfer involved in a phase change? If so, will energy have to be supplied to change phase from solid to liquid and liquid to gas? What about gas to liquid and liquid to solid? Why do they spray the orange trees with water in Florida when the temperatures are near or just below freezing?

Yes, energy transfer is involved in a phase change. We know that atoms and molecules in solids and liquids are bound to each other because we know that force is required to separate them. So in a phase change from solid to liquid and liquid to gas, a force must be exerted, perhaps by collision, to separate atoms and molecules. Force exerted through a distance is work, and energy is needed to do work to go from solid to liquid and liquid to gas. This is intuitively consistent with the need for energy to melt ice or boil water. The converse is also true. Going from gas to liquid or liquid to solid involves atoms and molecules pushing together, doing work and releasing energy.

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Phet explorations: states of matter—basics

Heat, cool, and compress atoms and molecules and watch as they change between solid, liquid, and gas phases.

States of Matter: Basics

Section summary

  • Most substances have three distinct phases: gas, liquid, and solid.
  • Phase changes among the various phases of matter depend on temperature and pressure.
  • The existence of the three phases with respect to pressure and temperature can be described in a phase diagram.
  • Two phases coexist (i.e., they are in thermal equilibrium) at a set of pressures and temperatures. These are described as a line on a phase diagram.
  • The three phases coexist at a single pressure and temperature. This is known as the triple point and is described by a single point on a phase diagram.
  • A gas at a temperature below its boiling point is called a vapor.
  • Vapor pressure is the pressure at which a gas coexists with its solid or liquid phase.
  • Partial pressure is the pressure a gas would create if it existed alone.
  • Dalton’s law states that the total pressure is the sum of the partial pressures of all of the gases present.

Conceptual questions

A pressure cooker contains water and steam in equilibrium at a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure. How does this greater pressure increase cooking speed?

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Why does condensation form most rapidly on the coldest object in a room—for example, on a glass of ice water?

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What is the vapor pressure of solid carbon dioxide (dry ice) at 78 . 5 º C size 12{ +- "78" "." 5°C} {} ?

The phase diagram (pressure versus temperature graph showing the three phases) for carbon dioxide. The triple point is five point one one atmospheres and negative fifty-six point six degrees Celsius. The critical point is seventy-three atmospheres and thirty-one degrees C. The phase change from solid to vapor at standard pressure of one atmosphere is negative seventy-eight point five degrees C.
The phase diagram for carbon dioxide. The axes are nonlinear, and the graph is not to scale. Dry ice is solid carbon dioxide and has a sublimation temperature of 78 . 5 º C size 12{ +- "78" "." 5°C} {} .
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Can carbon dioxide be liquefied at room temperature ( 20 º C size 12{"20"°C} {} )? If so, how? If not, why not? (See [link] .)

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Oxygen cannot be liquefied at room temperature by placing it under a large enough pressure to force its molecules together. Explain why this is.

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What is the distinction between gas and vapor?

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Questions & Answers

A golfer on a fairway is 70 m away from the green, which sits below the level of the fairway by 20 m. If the golfer hits the ball at an angle of 40° with an initial speed of 20 m/s, how close to the green does she come?
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A mouse of mass 200 g falls 100 m down a vertical mine shaft and lands at the bottom with a speed of 8.0 m/s. During its fall, how much work is done on the mouse by air resistance
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Chemistry is a branch of science that deals with the study of matter,it composition,it structure and the changes it undergoes
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2. A sled plus passenger with total mass 50 kg is pulled 20 m across the snow (0.20) at constant velocity by a force directed 25° above the horizontal. Calculate (a) the work of the applied force, (b) the work of friction, and (c) the total work.
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can someone explain to me, an ignorant high school student, why the trend of the graph doesn't follow the fact that the higher frequency a sound wave is, the more power it is, hence, making me think the phons output would follow this general trend?
Joseph Reply
Nevermind i just realied that the graph is the phons output for a person with normal hearing and not just the phons output of the sound waves power, I should read the entire thing next time
Joseph
Follow up question, does anyone know where I can find a graph that accuretly depicts the actual relative "power" output of sound over its frequency instead of just humans hearing
Joseph
"Generation of electrical energy from sound energy | IEEE Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore" ***ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7150687?reload=true
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progressive wave
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A string is 3.00 m long with a mass of 5.00 g. The string is held taut with a tension of 500.00 N applied to the string. A pulse is sent down the string. How long does it take the pulse to travel the 3.00 m of the string?
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Source:  OpenStax, College physics. OpenStax CNX. Jul 27, 2015 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11406/1.9
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