Volatility (chemistry)

Bromine liquid readily transitions to vapor at room temperature, indicating high volatility

In chemistry, volatility is a material quality which describes how readily a substance vaporizes. At a given temperature and pressure, a substance with high volatility is more likely to exist as a vapour, while a substance with low volatility is more likely to be a liquid or solid. Volatility can also describe the tendency of a vapor to condense into a liquid or solid; less volatile substances will more readily condense from a vapor than highly volatile ones.[1] Differences in volatility can be observed by comparing how fast substances within a group evaporate (or sublimate in the case of solids) when exposed to the atmosphere. A highly volatile substance such as rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) will quickly evaporate, while a substance with low volatility such as vegetable oil will remain condensed.[2] In general, solids are much less volatile than liquids, but there are some exceptions. Solids that sublimate (change directly from solid to vapor) such as dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) or iodine can vaporize at a similar rate as some liquids under standard conditions.[3]

  1. ^ Felder, Richard (2015). Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 279–281. ISBN 978-1-119-17764-7.
  2. ^ Koretsky, Milo D. (2013). Engineering and Chemical Thermodynamics. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 639–641.
  3. ^ Zumdahl, Steven S. (2007). Chemistry. Houghton Mifflin. pp. 460-466. ISBN 978-0-618-52844-8.