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Concept
Enthalpy of vaporization
Summary
In thermodynamics, the enthalpy of vaporization (symbol ∆Hvap), also known as the (latent) heat of vaporization or heat of evaporation, is the amount of energy (enthalpy) that must be added to a liquid substance to transform a quantity of that substance into a gas. The enthalpy of vaporization is a function of the pressure at which the transformation (vaporization or evaporation) takes place.
The enthalpy of vaporization is often quoted for the normal boiling temperature of the substance. Although tabulated values are usually corrected to 298 K, that correction is often smaller than the uncertainty in the measured value.
The heat of vaporization is temperature-dependent, though a constant heat of vaporization can be assumed for small temperature ranges and for Reduced temperature T_r ≪ 1. The heat of vaporization diminishes with increasing temperature and it vanishes completely at a certain point called the critical temperature (T_r = 1). Above the critical temperature, the liquid and vapor phases are indistinguishable, and the substance is called a supercritical fluid.
Values are usually quoted in J/mol, or kJ/mol (molar enthalpy of vaporization), although kJ/kg, or J/g (specific heat of vaporization), and older units like kcal/mol, cal/g and Btu/lb are sometimes still used among others.
The enthalpy of condensation (or heat of condensation) is by definition equal to the enthalpy of vaporization with the opposite sign: enthalpy changes of vaporization are always positive (heat is absorbed by the substance), whereas enthalpy changes of condensation are always negative (heat is released by the substance).
The enthalpy of vaporization can be written as
It is equal to the increased internal energy of the vapor phase compared with the liquid phase, plus the work done against ambient pressure. The increase in the internal energy can be viewed as the energy required to overcome the intermolecular interactions in the liquid (or solid, in the case of sublimation). Hence helium has a particularly low enthalpy of vaporization, 0.
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