THERMAL EFFECTS

Part 3
 Evaporation
• Evaporation (or vaporisation) of an element or compound is a phase
transition (change of state) from the liquid phase to vapour (gaseous).
• Boiling is also a phase transition from the liquid phase to gas phase.
• However, evaporation is slower, occurs only from the surface of the liquid,
does not produce bubbles, and leads to cooling. Boiling is faster, can occur
throughout the liquid, produces lots of bubbles, and does not result in
cooling.
• During evaporation, steam rises from the surface of the liquid, thus
reducing the overall heat energy of the system.
• According to the kinetic theory, the particles that gain energy rise to the
surface and escape. The heat energy is thus taken away, leaving behind
particles that have less energy.
• During boiling, a certain temperature must be reached before phase
transition occurs.
• For example, water boils at 100 °C at sea level. Before reaching this
temperature, water can still evaporate. As water particles get heat
energy, they rise to the surface where atmospheric pressure helps the
particles to transition to a gaseous phase.
• But at the boiling point, the pressure of the vapour is able to overcome
atmospheric pressure allowing bubbles to form at the surface.
• The rate of evaporation can be increased by the following factors:
• 1) Increasing the temperature – if more heat energy is given to a
liquid, its particles gain more kinetic energy and can transition more
rapidly
• 2) Increasing the surface area – if the particles are spread out, then
they are already closer to the surface, thus needing only a small
amount of energy to escape.
• 3) Reducing the humidity in the air – air that is very humid is already
saturated with water vapour, therefore it is very difficult for more
vapour molecules to move into the air.
• 4) Movement of air – if air already has kinetic energy, it will rapidly
carry away the evaporating molecules.
• Uses of the cooling effect of evaporation
• 1) Refrigerators:
• Refrigerators use the principle of Charles’ Law, which states that the
volume of a gas is directly proportional to its temperature.
• A refrigerant (e.g. ammonia) is compressed from a gas to a liquid by
a pump.
• The liquid is then released into a network of pipes which have a
greater total volume than the compression tank.
• This causes the liquid to evaporate and take away the thermal
energy from the stored food, which is then released into the air.
• 2) Sweating:
• Sweating also uses the cooling effect of evaporation. Sweat, which is
mainly water, takes away excess thermal energy from your body as it
evaporates.
 Condensation and solidification
• Condensation is the change of the state of matter from the gas
phase into the liquid phase, and is the reverse of vaporisation.
• According to the kinetic theory, condensation happens when molecules
in a gas cool down. As the molecules lose heat, they lose energy and
slow down. They move closer to other gas molecules. Finally these
molecules collect together to form a liquid.

• Solidification (Freezing) is a phase transition where a liquid turns into

a solid when its temperature is lowered below its freezing point.
• If a liquid substance is to be solidified, then the heat energy previously
added must be released, so that the molecules can bind to each other
again forming an ordered solid state from a liquid disordered state.
 Specific heat capacity
• Thermal capacity is the property of a material to
absorb heat when it is heated and to release heat
when it is cooled.
• Thermal capacity is defined as the quantity of heat
necessary to produce a unit change of temperature in
a unit mass of a material.
• For example, it takes 4 200 Joules of energy to raise the
temperature of water by 1°C or 1K. (Note that a change
in temperature of 1oC is equal to a change of 1K
because their graduations are equal.)
• Water, therefore, has quite a high thermal capacity or
specific heat capacity
• The more energy needed for a temperature rise, the
higher the specific heat capacity of the material.
• Different substances each have individual specific heat
capacities, which are constant values.
• The energy needed to raise the temperature of a substance depends on its
specific heat capacity and can be calculated using the following equation:
• Energy transferred(E) = mass(m) x specific heat capacity(c) x temperature
change(Δq)
•

• Thermal capacity can be calculated by:

• Thermal capacity = mass x specific heat capacity
• Determining specific heat
capacity
• If the power of a heating device is
known, the device can then be used to
heat a substance for a specified period
of time.
• The equation: Energy = Power x time
can be used to
calculate the energy used to raise the
temperature of the substance.
• Then the equation: can be used
to calculate the specific heat capacity.
• Storing and using thermal
energy
• Water is very useful in storing and
carrying thermal energy.
• This property is used in central heating
systems, where water is heated in a
boiler and carried to a radiator where
the thermal energy is given out.
• Night storage heaters use concrete
blocks that are heated using heating
elements. Then, once the elements are
switched off, the concrete blocks will
radiate thermal energy as they cool
down.