Why does the rate of evaporate of acetone increase when air is bubbled through it. What links are there to prove it?
2006-09-05 14:17:34 · 4 answers · asked by ghostrider.com 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
do reply as fast as possible.
im handing in the hmk by friday.
Thanks people
2006-09-05 14:18:19 · update #1
The rate of evaporation is proportional to the exposed surface area of the liquid. The more surface area, the faster the liquid will evaporate. The bubbles of air within the liquid increase the available surface area for the molecules to jump into the vapor state.
A liquid will naturally evaporate, some of its molecules will naturally make the jump into the vapor state from the liquid state. An equilibrium will be reached when there are equal numbers of molecules from the liquid evaporating into a gas as there are gas molecules condensing into a liquid. At equilibrium, the liquid will exert some pressure onto itself by its own molecules in the gas state....this is called the vapor pressure.
At a given temperature, the vapor pressure of a liquid is constant.
Once equilibrium has been established, the liquid will cease to evaporate, unless something disturbs it. By bubbling the "Dry" air through the acetone, you are disturbing the equilibrium and you are allowing more acetone molecules to jump into the gas state inside the bubbles which previously has no acetone vapor in them.
2006-09-05 14:35:18 · answer #1 · answered by mrjeffy321 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't have links to prove this, but I could say there are two effects, both enhanced by the additional surface area of the bubbles passing through the bulk liquid.
1) by increasing the surface area, there is more area where the liquid acetone is exposed to a gas which has less then the equilibrium partial pressure of gassous acetone. More area allows more liquid to vaporize, since the rate-limiting step is the vibration excitement of acetone molecules from the surface.
2) as the acetone evaporates, it removes kenetic energy from the bulk liquid, thus cooling it. If the air is warmer than the acetone (it need not be), then the additional contact area of the warmer air with the cooler acetone could provide greater transfer of heat from the gas to the liquid.
2006-09-05 21:59:55 · answer #2 · answered by Carl M 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i dunno.
but i was watching the news 'n they said that acetone can lead to cancer.
2006-09-05 21:20:53 · answer #3 · answered by cookiemonster 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i dunno either, but it's a great nail polish remover
2006-09-05 21:22:53 · answer #4 · answered by Heckel 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋