Enthalpy of Vaporization

972 Words4 Pages
Abstract: The purpose of this experiment was to measure the enthalpy of vaporization of distilled water. The experiment was performed using varied external pressure as a function of temperature. The enthalpy of vaporization was calculated to be 39.98 ± 0.02 kJ/mol. This value is 1.65% lower than the literature value of 40.65 kJ/mol. (CRC Handbook) Moreover the ∆Hv/Z ratio was compared for various temperatures and it remained almost constant with insignificant change. Introduction: When a liquid is heated up to its boiling points, the vapour produced can be used to measure the heat of particular vaporization in terms of the vapour pressure in terms of temperature. Heat of vaporization is the amount of energy required to change water from liquid to gaseous form. (Engel and Reid, 2006). The temperature at which water evaporates is dependent upon the applied external pressure. Equilibrium exists between the liquid and gas phase of a substance at constant temperature and pressure. The enthalpy of vaporization can be measured indirectly using the Clapeyron equation: ∂(ln P)/∂(1/T) = - ∆Hv/Rz. ∂(ln P)/∂(1/T) is the slope on a graph of ln P versus the inverse of temperature. Z is the compressibility factor that measures how much a gas deviates from the ideal gas behaviour. The value of Z at a certain temperature can be obtained by consulting a graph of Tr versus Z where Tr is temperature divided by the critical temperature. Both the enthalpy of vaporization and Z decrease with an increase in temperature, however, the ratio of ∆ Hv/Z remains constant over the range of temperature. One of the apparatuses used in this experiment was a large-volume ballast bulb that was used to change the external pressure being applied on the system. Pressure was measured using a mercury manometer. A thermometer was used to measure the temperature of the water placed in a two neck
Open Document