Conversations on Chemistry Part 17

It is because the degree of heat at which we usually observe these fluids is sufficient to overcome their attraction of cohesion. Ether is of this description; it will boil and be converted into vapour, at the common temperature of the air, if the pressure of the atmosphere be taken off.

EMILY.

I thought that ether would evaporate without either the pressure of the atmosphere being taken away, or heat applied; and that it was for that reason so necessary to keep it carefully corked up?

MRS. B.

It is true it will evaporate, but without ebullition; what I am now speaking of is the vaporization of ether, or its conversion into vapour by boiling. I am going to show you how suddenly the ether in this phial will be converted into vapour, by means of the air-pump. --Observe with what rapidity the bubbles ascend, as I take off the pressure of the atmosphere.

CAROLINE.

It positively boils: how singular to see a liquid boil without heat!

MRS. B.

Now I shall place the phial of ether in this gla.s.s, which it nearly fits, so as to leave only a small s.p.a.ce, which I fill with water; and in this state I put it again under the receiver. (PLATE IV. Fig. 1.)* You will observe, as I exhaust the air from it, that whilst the ether boils, the water freezes.

[Footnote *: Two pieces of thin gla.s.s tubes, sealed at one end, might answer this purpose better. The experiment, however, as here described, is difficult, and requires a very nice apparatus. But if, instead of phials or tubes, two watch-gla.s.ses be used, water may be frozen almost instantly in the same manner. The two gla.s.ses are placed over one another, with a few drops of water interposed between them, and the uppermost gla.s.s is filled with ether. After working the pump for a minute or two, the gla.s.ses are found to adhere strongly together, and a thin layer of ice is seen between them.]

CAROLINE.

It is indeed wonderful to see water freeze in contact with a boiling fluid!

EMILY.

I am at a loss to conceive how the ether can pa.s.s to the state of vapour without an addition of caloric. Does it not contain more caloric in a state of vapour, than in a state of liquidity?

MRS. B.

It certainly does; for though it is the pressure of the atmosphere which condenses it into a liquid, it is by forcing out the caloric that belongs to it when in an aeriform state.

EMILY.

You have, therefore, two difficulties to explain, Mrs. B. --First, from whence the ether obtains the caloric necessary to convert it into vapour when it is relieved from the pressure of the atmosphere; and, secondly, what is the reason that the water, in which the bottle of ether stands, is frozen?

CAROLINE.

Now, I think, I can answer both these questions. The ether obtains the addition of caloric required, from the water in the gla.s.s; and the loss of caloric, which the latter sustains, is the occasion of its freezing.

MRS. B.

You are perfectly right; and if you look at the thermometer which I have placed in the water, whilst I am working the pump, you will see that every time bubbles of vapour are produced, the mercury descends; which proves that the heat of the water diminishes in proportion as the ether boils.

EMILY.

This I understand now very well; but if the water freezes in consequence of yielding its caloric to the ether, the equilibrium of heat must, in this case, be totally destroyed. Yet you have told us, that the exchange of caloric between two bodies of equal temperature, was always equal; how, then, is it that the water, which was originally of the same temperature as the ether, gives out caloric to it, till the water is frozen, and the ether made to boil?

MRS. B.

I suspected that you would make these objections; and, in order to remove them, I enclosed two thermometers in the air-pump; one which stands in the gla.s.s of water, the other in the phial of ether; and you may see that the equilibrium of temperature is not destroyed; for as the thermometer descends in the water, that in the ether sinks in the same manner; so that both thermometers indicate the same temperature, though one of them is in a boiling, the other in a freezing liquid.

EMILY.

The ether, then, becomes colder as it boils? This is so contrary to common experience, that I confess it astonishes me exceedingly.

CAROLINE.

It is, indeed, a most extraordinary circ.u.mstance. But pray, how do you account for it?

MRS. B.

I cannot satisfy your curiosity at present; for before we can attempt to explain this apparent paradox, it is necessary to become acquainted with the subject of LATENT HEAT: and that, I think, we must defer till our next interview.

CAROLINE.

I believe, Mrs. B., that you are glad to put off the explanation; for it must be a very difficult point to account for.

MRS. B.

I hope, however, that I shall do it to your complete satisfaction.

EMILY.

But before we part, give me leave to ask you one question. Would not water, as well as ether, boil with less heat, if deprived of the pressure of the atmosphere?

MRS. B.

Undoubtedly. You must always recollect that there are two forces to overcome, in order to make a liquid boil or evaporate; the attraction of aggregation, and the weight of the atmosphere. On the summit of a high mountain (as Mr. De Saussure ascertained on Mount Blanc) much less heat is required to make water boil, than in the plain, where the weight of the atmosphere is greater.* Indeed if the weight of the atmosphere be entirely removed by means of a good air-pump, and if water be placed in the exhausted receiver, it will evaporate so fast, however cold it maybe, as to give it the appearance of boiling from the surface. But without the a.s.sistance of the air-pump, I can show you a very pretty experiment, which proves the effect of the pressure of the atmosphere in this respect.

Observe, that this Florence flask is about half full of water, and the upper half of invisible vapour, the water being in the act of boiling.

--I take it from the lamp, and cork it carefully--the water, you see, immediately ceases boiling. --I shall now dip the flask into a bason of cold water.

[Footnote *: On the top of Mount Blanc, water boiled when heated only to 187 degrees, instead of 212 degrees.]

[Footnote : The same effect may be produced by wrapping a cold wet linen cloth round the upper part of the flask. In order to show how much the water cools whilst it is boiling, a thermometer, graduated on the tube itself, may be introduced into the bottle through the cork.]

CAROLINE.

But look, Mrs. B., the hot water begins to boil again, although the cold water must rob it more and more of its caloric! What can be the reason of that?

MRS. B.

Let us examine its temperature. You see the thermometer immersed in it remains stationary at 180 degrees, which is about 30 degrees below the boiling point. When I took the flask from the lamp, I observed to you that the upper part of it was filled with vapour; this being compelled to yield its caloric to the cold water, was again condensed into water-- What, then, filled the upper part of the flask?

EMILY.

Nothing; for it was too well corked for the air to gain admittance, and therefore the upper part of the flask must be a vacuum.

MRS. B.