Vapour Pressure and Boiling
As temperature increase, the vapour pressure of a liquid increases, as more particles evaporate into the liquid phase. The
temperature at which the vapor pressure is equal to the atmospheric pressure is called the boiling point. In other words, a
liquid boils when its vapour pressure becomes equal to the external (atmospheric) pressure on the liquid. When this
happens, all the particles have enough energy to escape the attractive forces throughout the liquid and boiling occurs. This
means that bubbles of vapour form throughout the liquid. If the external pressure is higher than the vapour pressure, these
bubbles are prevented from forming, and there is only evaporation at the surface of the liquid.
If the liquid is in an open container and exposed to standard atmospheric pressure, the liquid boils when its vapour
pressure becomes equal to 1 atm. For water, this happens at 100°C, and is referred to as the “normal boiling point”.
At different pressures, however, water will boil at different temperatures.
For pressures greater than 1 atm (e.g., in a pressure cooker), the boiling point is above 100°C.
For pressure less than 1 atm (e.g., at altitudes above sea level), the boiling point will be lower than 100°C. For
example, at the top of Mount Everest the pressure is so low that water will boil at about 70°C.
Vapour Pressure and Boiling
The following graph shows vapour pressure curves for two liquids: Substance A and Substance B.
Pressure (KPa)
106.6
93.3
80.0
66.6
53.3 A
40.0
26.7 B
13.3
0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
o
Temperature ( C)
Answer the following questions.
1. What is the vapor pressure of substance A at 35 oC?
2. What is the vapor pressure of substance B at 35 oC?
3. At what temperature is the vapor pressure of substance A equal to 106.6 kPa?
4. What is the vapor pressure of substance B at the temperature you gave as your answer to question #3?
5. Which of the liquids has the greatest amount of attraction (highest IMFs) between the molecules?
6. What is meant by “normal boiling point”?
7. What is the normal boiling point of substance A?
8. What is the normal boiling point of substance B?
9. Which substance would be considered the most volatile?
10. At what temperature would substance A boil if the atmospheric pressure was equal to 93.3 kPa?
11. What would the atmospheric pressure have to be in order for substance B to boil at the temperature you gave as
your answer to question #10?
