Question #e4ab2

1 Answer
Jul 20, 2017

"1.4 atm"

Explanation:

This looks like a job for the Clausius - Clapeyron equation, which looks like this

color(blue)(ul(color(black)(ln(P_1/P_2) = (DeltaH_"vap")/R * (1/T_2 - 1/T_1))))

Here

  • P_1 is the vapor pressure of the liquid at T_1
  • P_2 is the vapor pressure of the liquid at T_2
  • R is the universal gas constant, equal to "8.3145 J mol"^(-1)"K"^(-1)
  • DeltaH_"vap" is the enthalpy of vaporization of the liquid, equal to "40,660 J mol"^(-1) for water (see here)

Now, you know that at an unknown atmospheric pressure P_2, water boils at

T_2 = 110^@"C" + 273.15 = "383.15 K"

Moreover, you know that at normal pressure, i.e. at P_1 = "1 atm", water has a normal boiling point of

T_1 = 100^@"C" + 273.15 = "373.15 K"

As you know, a liquid boils when its vapor pressure is equal to the atmospheric pressure, so you can use the two atmospheric pressures in the Clausius - Clapeyron equation as P_1 and P_2.

So, plug in your values into the equation to get

ln("1 atm"/P_2) = ("40,660" color(red)(cancel(color(black)("J"))) color(red)(cancel(color(black)("mol"^(-1)))))/(8.3145 color(red)(cancel(color(black)("J"))) color(red)(cancel(color(black)("mol"^(-1)))) color(red)(cancel(color(black)("K"^(-1))))) * (1/(383.15 color(red)(cancel(color(black)("K")))) - 1/(273.15color(red)(cancel(color(black)("K")))))

ln("1 atm"/P_2) = -0.342041625

This will be equivalent to

e^ln("1 atm"/P_2) = e^(-0.342041625)

which will get you

"1 atm"/P_2 = 0.71032

You can thus say that

P_2 = "1 atm"/0.71032 = color(darkgreen)(ul(color(black)("1.4 atm")))

Now, does this result make sense?

As atmospheric pressure increases, the molecules of water will need more energy in order to escape from the liquid, which implies that the temperature of the water will be higher at the new boiling point.

So in your case, a higher boiling temperature implies a higher a higher value for the vapor pressure of water at its boiling point, i.e. a higher atmospheric pressure.

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