Ordinarily, the partial pressure of water vapour in the

Chapter 5, Problem 42P

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Problem 42P

Ordinarily, the partial pressure of water vapour in the air is less than the equilibrium vapour pressure at the ambient temperature; this is why a cup of water will spontaneously evaporate. The ratio of the partial pressure of water vapour to the equilibrium vapour pressure is called the relative humidity. When the relative humidity is 100%, so that water vapour in the atmosphere would be in diffusive equilibrium with a cup of liquid water, we say that the air is saturated. The dew point is the temperature at which the relative humidity would be 100%, for a given partial pressure of water vapour.

(a) Use the vapor pressure equation (below Problem) and the data in below Figure to plot a graph of the vapor pressure of water from 0°C to 40° C. Notice that the vapour pressure approximately doubles for every 10° increase in temperature.

(b) The temperature on a certain summer day is 30°C. What is the dew point if the relative humidity is 90%? What if the relative humidity is 40%?

Problem:

The Clausius-Clapeyron below relation is a differential equation that can, in principle, be solved to find the shape of the entire phase-boundary curve. To solve it, however, you have to know how both L and ΔU depend on temperature and pressure. Often, over a reasonably small section of the curve, you can take L to be constant. Moreover, if one of the phases is a gas, you can usually neglect the volume of the condensed phase and just take ΔU to be the volume of the gas, expressed in terms of temperature and pressure using the ideal gas law. Making all these assumptions, solve the differential equation explicitly to obtain the following formula for the phase boundary curve:

P = (constant) × e–L/RT,

This result is called the vapour pressure equation. Caution: Be sure to use this formula only when all the assumptions just listed are valid.

Relation:

Figure: Phase diagram for H2O (not to scale). The table gives the vapor pressure and molar latent heat for the solid-gas transformation (first three entries) and the liquid-gas transformation (remaining entries). Data from Keenan et al (1978) and Lide (1994).

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