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[Phys-L] Re: tiny bubbles



On Feb 10, 2006, at 8:59 PM, Stefan Jeglinski wrote:

. . . But what about the original question? Is the ability
to superheat water (for example) entirely related to
one's ability to prepare both the water and the vessel?
Imagine, if you will, "ideal" water in an "ideal" vessel
(that is, no nucleation sites, and other things, like
pressure, equal). Would it superheat indefinitely? Or
would convection or other gradients eventually trump
the absence of nucleation sites?

In the "ideal" world a superheated state can be stable, provided the
temperature stabilizes. I am thinking about thermal equilibrium (energy
supplied = energy lost). Rapid evaporation, via formation of bubbles
below the surface, is not the only mechanism by which stability can be
maintained.

In the "ideal" world long pencils would also stand on their sharp
points indefinitely, waiting for bubbles to appear.

Ludwik Kowalski
Let the perfect not be the enemy of the good.
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