Roli Parashar would like to express

gratitude to all those who gave me

the opportunity to complete this
project
I want to thank Morning Star
School to allow commencing this
subject. I further more thank my
chemistry teacher who conferred
this and encouraged to go ahead
with my projects . I am also
thankful of my family and friends
for their help and co-operation
incompletion of this project.

To study the rate of evaporation of

Different liquids

What is evaporation?
Evaporation is a type of vaporization of a liquid that occurs
from the surface of a liquid into a gaseous phase that is not
saturated with the evaporating substance. The other type of
vaporization is boiling, which is characterized by bubbles of
saturated vapor forming in the liquid phase. Steam produced
in a boiler is another example of evaporation occurring in a
saturated vapor phase.
Evaporation that occurs
directly
from the solid phase
below
the melting point, as
commonly observed with
ice at or
below freezing or moth
crystals
(naphthalene or
paradichlorobenzine), is
called sublimation.
On average, a fraction of the molecules in a glass of water
have enough heat energy to escape from the liquid. Water
molecules from the air enter the water in the glass, but as
long as the relative humidity of the air in contact is less than
100% (saturation), the net transfer of water molecules will be
to the air. The water in the glass will be cooled by the
evaporation until an equilibrium is reached where the air
supplies the amount of heat removed by the evaporating
water. In an enclosed environment the water would evaporate
until the air is saturated.
With sufficient temperature, the liquid would turn into vapor
quickly (see boiling point). When the molecules collide, they

transfer energy to each other in varying degrees, based on

how they collide. Sometimes the transfer is so one-sided for a
molecule near the surface that it ends up with enough energy
to 'escape'.
Evaporation is an essential
part of
the water cycle. The sun
(solar
energy) drives evaporation
of water
from oceans, lakes, moistur
e in the
soil, and other sources of
water.
In hydrology, evaporation
and transpiration (which
involves
evaporation
within plant stomata) are
collectively termed
evapotranspiration.
Evaporation of water occurs when the surface of the liquid is
exposed, allowing molecules to escape and form water vapor;
this vapor can then rise up and form clouds.

THEORY
For molecules of a liquid to evaporate, they must be
located near the surface, be moving in the proper
direction, and have sufficient kinetic energy to
overcome liquid-phase intermolecular forces. When
only a small proportion of the molecules meet these
criteria, the rate of evaporation is low. Since the
kinetic energy of a molecule is proportional to its
temperature, evaporation proceeds more quickly at
higher temperatures. As the faster-moving molecules
escape, the remaining molecules have lower average
kinetic energy, and the temperature of the liquid
decreases. This phenomenon is also called evaporative

cooling. This is why evaporating sweat cools the

human body. Evaporation also tends to proceed more
quickly with higher flow rates between the gaseous
and liquid phase and in liquids with higher vapor
pressure. For example, laundry on a clothes line will
dry (by evaporation) more rapidly on a windy day than
on a still day. Three
key
parts to evaporation
are
heat, atmospheric
pressure (determines
the
percent humidity)
and air
movement.
On a molecular level,
no strict boundary
between the liquid
and the vapor state.
Instead, there is
a Knudsen layer,
where the phase is
undetermined. Because
layer is only a few
molecules thick, at a
macroscopic scale a clear
phase transition interface
be seen.

there is
state

this

can

Liquids that do not evaporate visibly at a given

temperature in a given gas (e.g., cooking oil at
room temperature) have molecules that do not tend to
transfer energy to each other in a pattern sufficient to
frequently give a molecule the heat energy necessary
to turn into vapor. However, these
liquids are evaporating. It is just that the process is
much slower and thus significantly less visible.

Evaporation is an endothermic process, in that heat is

absorbed during evaporation.

FACTORS INFLUENCING RATE OF

EVAPORATION
Air used here is a common example; however, the
vapor phase can be other gasses.

Concentration of the substance evaporating in

the air
If the air already has a high concentration of the
substance evaporating, then the given substance will
evaporate more slowly.

Concentration of other substances in the air

If the air is already saturated with other substances, it

can have a lower capacity for the substance
evaporating
Flow rate of air
This is in part related to the concentration points
above. If fresh air is moving over the substance all the
time, then the concentration of the substance in the
air is less likely to go up with time, thus encouraging

faster evaporation. This is the result of the boundary

layer at the evaporation surface decreasing with flow
velocity, decreasing the diffusion distance in the
stagnant layer.
Inter-molecular forces
The stronger the forces keeping the molecules
together in the liquid state, the more energy one must
get to escape. This is characterized by the enthalpy of
vaporization.

Pressure
Evaporation happens faster if there is less exertion on
the surface keeping the molecules from launching
themselves.

Surface area
A substance that has a larger surface area will
evaporate faster, as there are more surface molecules
that are able to escape.

Temperature of the substance

If the substance is hotter, then its molecules have a
higher average kinetic energy, and evaporation will be
faster.

Density
The higher the
density the
slower a liquid
evaporates.
In the US, the
National Weather
Service measures
the
actual rate of evaporation from a standardized "pan"

open water surface outdoors, at various locations

nationwide. Others do likewise around the world. The
US data is collected and compiled into an annual
evaporation map. The measurements range from
under 30 to over 120 inches (3,000 mm) per year.

APPLICATIONS

Industrial applications include recovering salts

from solutions and drying a variety of materials such
as lumber, paper, cloth and chemicals.

When clothes are hung on a laundry line, even

though the
ambient
temperature is
below
the boiling
point
of water, water
evaporates.
This is
accelerated by
factors such as
low humidity, h
eat(fr
om the sun),
and wind. In
a clothes dryer,
hot air
is blown
through the
clothes,
allowing water to evaporate very rapidly.

The Matki/Matka, a traditional Indian porous clay

container used for storing and cooling water and
other liquids.

The botijo, a traditional Spanish porous clay

container designed to cool the contained water by
evaporation.

Combustion vaporization
Fuel droplets vaporize as they receive heat by mixing
with the hot gases in the combustion chamber. Heat
(energy) can also be received by radiation from any
hot refractory wall of the combustion chamber.

Precombustion
vaporization
The catalytic cracking
of long
hydro-carbon chains
into the
shortest molecular
chains
possible, vastly
improves gasoline
mileage
and provides reduced
pollutant emissions
once
the fuel vapor is at its
optimum ratio with air. The chemically correct air/fuel
mixture for total burning of gasoline has been
determined to be 15 parts air to one part gasoline or
15/1 by weight. Changing this to a volume ratio yields
8000 parts air to one part gasoline or 8,000/1 by
volume. Theoretically, a homogenous mixture can
yield gas mileage in excess of 300 miles per gallon,
however the actual fuel mileage is highly dependent
on the weight of the vehicle.

HOW EVAPORATION OCCURS

How Evaporation Occurs Evaporation is caused by
heat, the energy of molecules in motion. Molecules are
motionless at absolute
zero (459.67 F. [-273.15 C.]).
Above
that temperature they
are in
constant motion, and
the
higher the
temperature the
faster
they move. In moving,
the
molecules bump into
each
other. With each
collision they transfer energy. If a surface molecule is
bumped by two or three others in quick succession, it
may gain enough energy to escape into the air, or
evaporate. An evaporating molecule takes energy with
it. Loss of this energy cools the substance from which
it escapes.

USES OF EVAPORATION
Evaporation of perspiration cools our bodies.
Evaporation of water from the earth keeps the air
moist and provides the moisture for clouds. Thus
evaporation has an important influence on weather
and climate. It is important also in air conditioning,
refrigeration, and distilling. Substances are
evaporated in a partial vacuum to speed evaporation
or to prevent deterioration by heat. Instant coffee and

frozen orange juice are evaporated in this way, and so

are blood plasma,
vaccines, and
antibiotics such as
penicillin.
Camphor is
purified
by sublimation.

ENERGY
TRANSFER
The energy you can measure with a thermometer is
really the average energy of all the molecules in the
system. There are always a few molecules with a lot of
energy and some with barely any energy at all. There
is a variety, because the molecules in a liquid can
move around. The molecules can bump into each
other, and when they hit... Blam! A little bit of energy
moves from one molecule to another. Since that
energy istransferred, one molecule will have a little bit
more and the other will have a little bit less. With
trillions of molecules bouncing around, sometimes
individual molecules gain enough energy to break
free. They build up enough power to become a gas
once they reach a specific energy level. In a word,
when the molecule leaves, it has evaporated.

The rate of
evaporation can also
increase with a
decrease in the gas
pressure around a
liquid. Molecules like
to
move from areas of
higher pressure to
lower
pressure. The molecules are basically sucked into the
surrounding area to even out the pressure. Once
the vapor pressure of the system reaches a specific
level, the rate of evaporation will slow down.