Making Dry Ice at Home: Pressure & Temperature Explained

AI Thread Summary
Deposition, or desublimation, refers to the process where carbon dioxide (CO2) transitions directly from gas to solid, commonly observed in the formation of dry ice. The discussion clarifies that this process does not occur at room temperature. Instead, CO2 is stored as a liquid under high pressure in fire extinguishers, typically around 72.9 atm at room temperature (approximately 31°C). When the extinguisher is activated, the pressure drops to 1 atm, causing the liquid CO2 to boil and cool rapidly, resulting in solid CO2 formation. At 1 atm, dry ice cannot exceed -78.5°C, while at higher pressures, such as 5.1 atm, the maximum temperature for dry ice is -56.7°C. Understanding the phase diagram of CO2 is essential for grasping these processes and the conditions required for solidification.
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what is Deposition, also known as desublimation, point of CO2 is it room temperature? i don't think so then how can we obtain this at room temperature as in this video and what pressure is required to solidify co2,is it 1 atm ?i don't think so then how we obtain this in a room as in above mentioned video.
i have searched a lot and came to know that
The process is not at room temperature .The extinguisher contains liquid CO2 at room temperature and several atmospheres pressure. When it is discharged the pressure drops to one atmosphere and, as it falls, the liquid boils. The heat of vaporization greatly cools the expanding CO2 and it solidifies.is this much right?and i am still confused about pressure.When high pressure CO2 liquid is discharged the pressure drops to one atmosphere ,but what is the pressure when CO2 solidifies ?1 atm?how?
 
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Process takes place at approximately 1 atm.
 
Borek said:
Process takes place at approximately 1 atm.
thanks .you mean when dry ice is formed from fire extinguisher pressure is1 atm.and what about temperature?he process is not at room temperature .The extinguisher contains liquid CO2 at room temperature and several atmospheres pressure. When it is discharged the pressure drops to one atmosphere and, as it falls, the liquid boils. The heat of vaporization greatly cools the expanding CO2 and it solidifies.is this much right?
 
You are mostly right. How far the temperature drops is not easy to calculate, but we know it has to be at least sublimation temperature for the dry ice.

Please pay attention to punctuation, as at the moment your posts are annoyingly difficult to read. There should be a space after every punctuation mark, and phrases should start with a capital letter.
 
Borek said:
You are mostly right. How far the temperature drops is not easy to calculate, but we know it has to be at least sublimation temperature for the dry ice.

Please pay attention to punctuation, as at the moment your posts are annoyingly difficult to read. There should be a space after every punctuation mark, and phrases should start with a capital letter.
Thanks. From now onwards i will take care of my punctuations.
 
We need the phase diagram to understand what's going on...

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So...the fire extinguisher is at room temperature, let's say 31C...If we follow the temp line up we see the pressure in the cylinder is 72.9 Atm... the cylinder contains liquid CO2 and gaseous CO2.

When the fire extinguisher is operated the liquid exits the cylinder and finds itself at 1 Atm. it boils , giving off CO2 gas and rapidly cools .
At 1Atm only solid and gaseous CO2 exist. Same at 5 Atm., but if we did this on a planet with 6Atm. pressure we get liquid and gaseous CO2 and perhaps some solid CO2.

At 1Atm dry ice cannot be hotter than -78.5C and at 5.1 Atm. dry ice cannot be hotter than -56.7C

All your questions can be answered by carefully studying the phase diagram.
 
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