this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2023
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This is a jar full of only water (liquid and vapor). It boils at any temperature when you apply something cold enough to the top, like ice.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/2697716

I put water in a jar and sealed it while it was boiling, and now it boils at any temperature. Super fun demo to try.

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[–] MalReynolds@slrpnk.net 9 points 1 year ago (4 children)

So, the way this trick works is due to bottling at high(ish) temperature and letting it cool to form a vacuum, and then cooling it further creates a negative pressure ?

[–] sixfold@lemmy.sdf.org 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Exactly. it was bottled at atmospheric pressure while it was boiling, so 1 atm and 100 degrees C. Check this graph to see the relationship between the water's temperature and it's pressure in the jar (since there is no air, only water vapor). If the vapor is condensed, then the pressure drops below the curve on the graph, that is, the pressure in the jar is lowered below the vapor pressure of the water. Any time the pressure is below the vapor pressure, the water will boil, releasing vapor, until the pressure is equal to the vapor pressure. The pressure does not become negative, it is still positive, just lower than the vapor pressure at the given temperature. You can get below the vapor pressure curve by changing the temperature too, which is what we usually do when boiling water at a pressure near 1 atm (760mmHg)

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Kinetic/watvap.html#c2

(1 atmosphere is ~760mmHg)

a slight aside, there is an important difference between the total pressure of the air, and the partial pressure of water vapor in the air. Inside the jar, the two are equal, but in a dry location (not humid) the partial pressure of water vapor is usually less than the vapor pressure of water at that temperature, but since the total large pressure of the atmosphere would not allow a pocket/bubble of very low pressure water vapor to form inside the bulk water, the water cannot boil, but it will evaporate at the surface anyway until the partial pressure of water is equal to the vapor pressure (very humid).

[–] MalReynolds@slrpnk.net 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You are sollidly correct, and your arguments are correct, but TMI (Too Much Information) applies (to me). Be well, indeed live long and prosper...

[–] sixfold@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 1 year ago

Anything for posterity

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