Solidifying Liquid Nitrogen

Patrick McAtee | Thermodynamics | 11 November 2010

Introduction

Two substances commonly found in scientific laboratories are liquid nitrogen and solid carbon
dioxide. However, with a little investigation and the right equipment, it is possible to turn solid
carbon dioxide into its liquid form and liquid nitrogen into solid nitrogen, thus showing two of
the lesser seen states of the two substances. This paper will explore the phase transition of
liquid nitrogen to its solid state, but those wanting to read more about liquid carbon dioxide
should see the paper by Lamborn and Mentzer, Liquid Carbon Dioxide and Solid Nitrogen from
The Physics Teacher [1].

One may wonder why anyone would want to solidify liquid nitrogen as liquid nitrogen is far
more useful (mostly as a coolant). However, solidifying nitrogen is something that can easily be
done with a vacuum pump and explores the relationship between the phase state of nitrogen
at varying pressure and same temperature.

Materials

 Vacuum pump
 Bowl
 Vacuum Chamber

Results

According to the paper by Lamborn and Mentzer, the nitrogen would solidify around 0.124 atm,
which equates to approximately 94.2 torr. The experiment was first done in a bell jar without
an accompanying pressure gauge of accurate resolution, so when the nitrogen finally appeared
to freeze, the pressure at which this happened was unknown. Then, the experiment was
repeated in a vacuum chamber with a built in pressure gauge and the nitrogen was noted to
have solidified at around 100 torr, or 0.131 atm.

Discussion

From this experiment, it is obvious that solidifying nitrogen is quite easy. The only downside is
that there is not much practical use of the frozen nitrogen besides as a proof of concept that a
bell jar or vacuum chamber can hit 0.124 atmosphere. On the theoretical side, freezing nitrogen
is an interesting way to show visually and experimentally the relationship between temperature
and pressure and to demonstrate the physics of the triple point of a substance.

One drawback of freezing nitrogen is that it is very hard to see. Although it freezes, it does not
change color, take up more or less space, and looks pretty much the same as it did in liquid
form. Future projects could try to manipulate the nitrogen in such a way as to make the
solidification more noticeable, such as by possibly coloring the liquid nitrogen.

Conclusion

Freezing nitrogen is fairly easy, as Lamborn and Mentzer pointed out in their paper from The
Physics Teacher. Any institution with access to a vacuum pump, a bell jar, and some liquid
nitrogen should be able to perform the experiment. As a lead in to a talk in a thermodynamics
class or section of a textbook, this experiment would work great for discussing the relationship
between the temperature, pressure, and phase of a substance. This experiment also
demonstrates the triple point of matter effectively.

[1] Lamborn, Thomas C. and Mentzer, Robert. Liquid Carbon Dioxide and Solid Nitrogen. The
Physics Teacher 32 1994.