Can the Concept of Humidity Be Applied to Non-H20 Molecules?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the concept of humidity, traditionally defined as the amount of water vapor in air relative to its maximum capacity at a given temperature. Participants explore the potential for a broader application of this concept to other molecules, such as mercury and methane, by examining their statistical distributions and vapor pressures. It is established that relative humidity can be calculated for any substance by dividing its partial pressure by its saturation vapor pressure, suggesting that humidity values can be determined experimentally for various non-H2O molecules.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of relative humidity and its definition.
  • Familiarity with vapor pressure concepts.
  • Knowledge of statistical distributions in molecular physics.
  • Basic principles of thermodynamics related to phase changes.
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the vapor pressure of mercury and its implications for humidity calculations.
  • Explore the statistical mechanics behind molecular speed distributions.
  • Investigate the atmospheric conditions on Titan and the behavior of methane.
  • Study the thermodynamic properties of various substances under different temperature conditions.
USEFUL FOR

Researchers in physical chemistry, atmospheric scientists, and anyone interested in the thermodynamic properties of non-water molecules and their behavior in various environments.

Simfish
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So we define humidity as..
"Relative humidity is defined as the amount of water vapor in a sample of air compared to the maximum amount of water vapor the air can hold at any specific temperature in a form of 0 to 100%"

But these definitions of humidity are overly specific to Earth's atmosphere. Is there a more general formulation of the concept that could apply to other molecules? I know that it's related to the statistical distribution of speeds in a group of molecules (and the respective vapor pressure of such molecules if they are found as a liquid under specified temperatures). So if there was enough mercury liquid, could we have a humidity value for mercury? (would saturation values be determined experimentally since theoretical results for all molecules can't always be precise at 2008's lvl of understanding?). And then could we also have dew point values for other molecules like mercury? (or say, methane on Titan's atmosphere, or some other molecule on that of Venus?)
 
Chemistry news on Phys.org
You can divide the partial pressure of any element or molecule by its saturation vapor pressure to determine its effective relative humidity.

You could calculate the "humidity" of mercury even without any liquid present.
 

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