What is Boiling point: Definition and 127 Discussions

The boiling point of a substance is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of a liquid equals the pressure surrounding the liquid and the liquid changes into a vapor.
The boiling point of a liquid varies depending upon the surrounding environmental pressure. A liquid in a partial vacuum has a lower boiling point than when that liquid is at atmospheric pressure. A liquid at high pressure has a higher boiling point than when that liquid is at atmospheric pressure. For example, water boils at 100 °C (212 °F) at sea level, but at 93.4 °C (200.1 °F) at 1,905 metres (6,250 ft) altitude. For a given pressure, different liquids will 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, one atmosphere. 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.The heat of vaporization is the energy required to transform a given quantity (a mol, kg, pound, etc.) of a substance from a liquid into a gas at a given pressure (often atmospheric pressure).
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.

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  1. fluidistic

    Calculating the boiling point of water

    Hi, I'm looking through wikipedia for a formula to calculate the boiling point of liquids in function of the atmospheric pressure but I didn't find any. In fact I'm curious what it would be for water on the Moon, Jupiter and so on. By the way, is the fusion point pressure-dependent? I...
  2. N

    Incorrect Thermometer Readings: What's the Boiling Point?

    1. A thermometer is calibrated wrongly. At the melting point, it reads -10 degree celsius. At 50 degree celsius, it reads 60 degree celsius. What does the thermometer read at the boiling point? 2. I think this is logic-based. 3. I drew a table but got confused.
  3. M

    What is the boiling point of water

    Homework Statement In Breckenridge, Colorado, the typical atmospheric pressure is 520. torr. What is the boiling point of water (ΔH = 40.7 kJ/mol) in Breckenridge? What pressure would have to applied to steam at 331°C to condense the steam to liquid water? Homework Equations Not...
  4. P

    Boiling point on top of mount everest

    Homework Statement At what temperature does water boil on the top of mount everest, elevation z = 8848m? Recall that the dependence of pressure with altitude is give by: P=P_atm * exp(-MWgz/RT) MW=molecular weight of the gas, P_atm =atmospheric pressure, g is the gravitational...
  5. T

    Sort these substances by boiling point

    HCOOH C_4H_10 C_2H_6 CH_2 H_2they all are polar covalent except H_2 which is pure covalent how to sort them??
  6. K

    Searching for DME + H2O Boiling Point Curve: Help Needed

    I've been searching for a DME + H2O boiling point composition curve. Can someone help me here or give me a clue how to calculate the curve?
  7. R

    Boiling Point Mystery for Ethyl Alcohol

    Hello everyone! I've encountered a small problem with one of our "special" assignments. Question: The normal boiling point for ethyl alcohol is 78.4 C, S for C2H5OH(g) is 282,7 J/mol*K. At what temperature is the vapor pressure of ethyl alcohol 357 mm Hg? Maybe I'm stupid, but I can't find...
  8. L

    How can a solution's boiling point decrease during distillation?

    I just finished a lab where I distilled a mixture of 2-methyl-2-butene and 2-methyl-1-butene in a dilute solution of sulfuric acid. The boiling points of the compounds respectively are 38.57C and 31.6C. The bp range ended up being a constant 32C. How is this possible? Shouldn't it be...
  9. P

    Time to bring water to its boiling point?

    Homework Statement A 3.00 X 10^2 W electric immersion heater is used to heat a cup of water. The cup is made up of glass and its mass is 3.00 X10^2 g. It has 250 g of water at 15 degrees celsius. How much time is needed to bring water to boiling point. Assume no heat is lost and temp of cup is...
  10. E

    Understanding Boiling Point: Explained!

    [SOLVED] boiling point Homework Statement All of my sources say that a liquid boils when its saturated vapor pressure reaches the external pressure on the liquid. None of my sources actually explain why that makes sense. When they say "external pressure," does that include the vapor pressure...
  11. B

    What affect does altitude have on boiling point?

    [SOLVED] What affect does altitude have on boiling point? What affect does altitude have on boiling point?
  12. S

    What Is the Boiling Point of a Urea Solution?

    Homework Statement Calculate the boiling point (in degrees C) of a solution made by dissolving 7.49 g of urea {CO(NH2)2} in 28.0 g of water. The Kbp of the solvent is 0.512 K/m and the normal boiling point is 373 KHomework Equations Delta Tf = (i)(m)(Kbp)The Attempt at a Solution Kbp= 0.512...
  13. S

    Organic Mixture's Boiling Point

    If one has a mixture of borneol (standard bp: 210 C) and verbenone (standard bp: 227.5 C), would the mixture's boiling point theoretically be the average of the two (218.75 C), or is there something else I have to take into consideration (vapor pressure)? Thanks.
  14. G

    Question: Evaporation - beyond boiling point

    Hi, I've been wonderring what happens to a substance once boiling point is reached, in particular the rate of evaporation. Am I right in thinking that further energy will cause the rate of evaporation to increase, while temperature of substance remains constant? Is there a point where if...
  15. D

    Why does water evaporate even below its boiling point?

    why does water evaporate even below its boiling point? is it because the bonds between particles aren't strong (while particles in water moves) thus some escape periodically or does it have something to do with convection currents?
  16. E

    Water's boiling point and table salt

    I was doing a simple experiment with my class to demonstrate the boiling point of water.Two of the students wanted to see what would happen when we added salt. So, the students added about 50 ml of common table salt to less than 200 ml of boiling water. The temperature of the water immediately...
  17. P

    Atmospheric Pressure & Boiling Point: Exploring the Why

    More emphasis... I understnad that atompsheric pressure affects boiling point and that as atmospheric pressure increases, boiling point increases...but why?
  18. N

    What is the material that has the highest boiling point?

    Me and a colleague are looking (Just for the fun of it) for the material which has the highest boiling point. Our evaporater, which we use to boil palladium, claims that since it can boil Wolfram/Tungsten, it can evaporate anything. Material physics like this is not my strong suit, but surely...
  19. A

    Another boiling point question

    In the attachment, i think the answer is c). However c) has the same molecular weight as d) and they are both alcohols. Is it that c) is not symmetrical, thus more polar as compared to d) and which is why c) should have a higher boiling point due to the stronger intermolecular forces?
  20. A

    Boiling Point Q: Is Alcohol Higher Than Ammonia?

    I think the answer is e). I don't think it is ammonia because of the hydrogen bonding between nitrogen and hydrogen. This will result in a higher boiling point. This is the same with Hydrogen fluoride and water. However, the two organic molecules I'm not sure. I assume that since the alcohol is...
  21. M

    What is the boiling point of Steel?

    I'have searched a lot but could not find boiling point for steel. Can you tell me what's the boiling point of steel? Also any link for a table which provides both melting and boiling points for commonly used metals would be greatly appreciated. Here is what I found so far: Melting Point: The...
  22. K

    Boiling point and evapoaration

    i know that pure liquids boil at a termperature of 100 degress but what is the difference between evaporation and boiling
  23. P

    Calculating Boiling Point Elevation for a Solution with Dissociating Solutes

    Here's the question: What is the boiling point of a solution that contains 1.25 mol CaCl_2 in 1400g of water? Now, I know that I have to take into account the fact that CaCl_2 disassociates in water to form ions. I thought the effective molality here would be 3 * 1.75 m since there are...
  24. S

    Thermodynamics? Boiling point of NH3

    Thermodynamics?? Boiling point of NH3 I hope I'm in the right place here, I'm no scientist, just a guy with a question. How can I find out the boiling point of ammonia at various pressures. :confused: I am dealing with an ammonia refrigeration system and trying to figure out where the ammonia...
  25. M

    Boiling point vs. freezing point

    this is going to sound like an odd question, but which element has its boiling point and its freezing point closest together? by which i mean, which transitions through the phases the fastest?
  26. K

    Which Boiling Point is Higher: Hex+Prop vs Prop? URGENT!

    Boiling point, urgent ! Which of the following has higher boiling point? 1) Mixture of hexane and propanone 2) propapone (consider their relative molecular mass and the forces of attraction between the molecules) I think the mixture of hexane and propanone has a higher boiling point, as...
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