Posted by Ishani on Sunday, June 25, 2006 at 5:13am.
Using the first law of thermodynamics explain why the specific latent heat of vaporisation of water is greater than the specific latent heat of fusion of ice.
The first law of thermodynamics (conservation of energy) has nothing to do with why vaporization requires more energy than melting. I have no idea what you instructor had in mind when assigning this question, and would be interested in hearing his or her version of the answer.
You have to consider the intramolecular binding process itself. Vaporizing requires that the molecules separate from each other by "climbing out" of a potential-energy "well" created by van der Waals intramolecular dipole-dipole binding forces. This requires a certain amount of enery that is typically on the order of an electron volt per molecule.
When a substance melts, the intramolecular distance does not change much, and the vearious molecules still remain bound to each other, but the orientation of the molecules changes with the added thermal energy so that they are not held as tightly and are not locked into a particular crystalline orientation.
Basically, it takes more energy to break away from adjacent molecules than to wiggle to a different, less ordered, stacking pattern.
which one of the following temperatures is equal to 5*c?
A. 0K
B. 41K
c. 278K
d. 465 K
- Physics - phuongtruong, Monday, May 10, 2010 at 5:17pm
C: 5 + 273 = 278 K
Answer this Question
Related Questions
Science - I'm going crazy! The heat necessary to change the state of water ...
Physics - How much energy would your body need to provide for the following : a)...
Physics - How much energy would your body need to provide for the following : a)...
Nsuk - (1)calculate the heat energy datas temperatures 100degree celciuse and ...
Physics - What is latent heat of vaporisation and latent heat of fusion?
Physics - How much energy is required to change a 58 g ice cube from ice at &...
physics - What mass (in grams) of steam at 100°C must be mixed with 446 g of...
physics - What mass (in grams) of steam at 100°C must be mixed with 341 g of...
thermal physics - What mass (in grams) of steam at 100°C must be mixed with ...
thermal physics - What mass (in grams) of steam at 100°C must be mixed with ...
For Further Reading
