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Chapter 5: Problem 27

Why does the temperature of water not change while it is boiling?

Short Answer

Expert verified
Answer: The temperature of water remains constant while boiling because the thermal energy added to the system is used to break the intermolecular forces binding the liquid together (latent heat of vaporization) instead of increasing the temperature. This allows the phase change from liquid to gas to occur at a constant temperature.

Step by step solution

01

Understand the concept of phase change

When heat is applied to water (or any other substance), it gains thermal energy, which causes the water molecules to vibrate more rapidly and move further apart. When the liquid reaches its boiling point, it starts to undergo a phase change from liquid to gas. This phase change occurs at a constant temperature, which is the boiling point for that substance.
02

Learn about specific heat

Specific heat is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one gram of a substance by one degree Celsius (or one Kelvin). The specific heat of a substance tells us how much thermal energy is needed to increase its temperature. For water, this is 4.18 J/g°C.
03

Introduce latent heat

Latent heat is the amount of heat required to change the phase of a substance (e.g., from liquid to gas or solid to liquid) at a constant temperature. When a substance reaches its boiling point and undergoes a phase change, the heat added to the system is used to break the intermolecular forces that hold the molecules together in the liquid phase, rather than increasing the temperature.
04

Relate latent heat to boiling water

When boiling water, the thermal energy added to it at the boiling point is used to break the hydrogen bonds between the water molecules, allowing them to escape as gas (steam). This means the absorbed heat is used to change the state of the water while maintaining a constant temperature (100°C at 1 atm pressure) throughout the boiling process. This hidden heat (latent heat) transferred during the phase change is called the latent heat of vaporization.
05

Conclusion

The temperature of water doesn't change while boiling because, at the boiling point, the thermal energy added to the system is used to break the intermolecular forces binding the liquid together (latent heat of vaporization) instead of increasing the temperature. The temperature remains constant until all the liquid has been converted into gas.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

\- What is saturation density? How does it change when the temperature increases?

When heating water on a stove, a full pan of water takes longer to reach the boiling point than a pan that is half full. Why?

A company decides to make a novelty glass thermometer that uses water instead of mercury or alcohol. (a) The thermometer would include a warning informing the user that it should not be exposed to temperatures below \(0^{\circ} \mathrm{C}\). Why? (b) Suppose the thermometer is taken outside where the temperature is \(1^{\circ} \mathrm{C}\). Describe how the level of the water would change as it adjusts to the new temperature and how at some point it would behave very differently than a mercury- or alcohol-filled thermometer.

Explain what a bimetallic strip is and how it functions.

A 1 -kg piece of iron is heated to \(100^{\circ} \mathrm{C}\), and then submerged in \(1 \mathrm{~kg}\) of water initially at \(0^{\circ} \mathrm{C}\). The iron cools and the water warms until they are at the same temperature (in thermal equilibrium). Assuming there is no other transfer of heat involved, is the final temperature closer to \(0^{\circ} \mathrm{C}, 50^{\circ} \mathrm{C}\), or \(100^{\circ} \mathrm{C} ?\) Why?
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