What would be most helpful to find the normal melting point and normal boiling point on a phase diagram?

1 Answer
anor277
Aug 31, 2016

A ruler?

Explanation:

On a phase diagram, pressure (the y axis) is plotted against temperature (the x axis). The pressure scale has units of "atmospheres" typically, and the temperature scale naturally has units of "degrees Kelvin". Under conditions of low pressure and high temperature, the substance exists as a gas, and at low temperature and high pressure, the substance exists as a solid.

Now the normal melting and the normal boiling points, by definition are the temperatures at which the solid changes to liquid, and the liquid changes to gas at "ONE ATMOSPHERE". So simply draw a horizontal line on the y axis, and note the x intercepts of the transitions to give these properties.

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