What happens to water when it's put under high pressure?

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
2 replies · 18K views
ImAnEngineer
Messages
209
Reaction score
1
Hi there,

I was wondering what happens when a great pressure is applied to water. I think that applying pressure to water vapor would turn it into water (liquid) since it has a higher density. So at first I thought that water would turn into ice, but quickly I realized that would be odd since ice has a lower density.
So my question is, what happens to the volume, the temperature and the phase of the H2O when you apply a big pressure to it?
 
Engineering news on Phys.org
Depending on the constraints, you'll probably end up with superheated liquid that has a reduced volume. I think the big factor would be what the heat transfer during the compresion was.

575px-Phase-diag2.svg.png
 
Thanks, that makes sense :) !