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Re: Vapor?



on 5/15/02 9:03 PM, Herbert H Gottlieb at herbgottlieb@JUNO.COM wrote:

On Wed, 15 May 2002 13:36:43 -0500 Tina Fanetti
<FanettT@QUEST.WITCC.CC.IA.US> writes:
Okay
I have been doing heat and such with my physics students. Everytime
I say gas, they bring up vapor.
I don't know where it comes from and I keep trying to get them to
stop using vapor but it seems stuck in their minds..
Esp. that gas and vapor are the same.

Tina


According to the International Dictionary of Physics and Electronics,
"The term (gas) is sometimes used as distinct from vapor
particularly to indicate a substance having a critical temperature below

room temperature."

Herb
My dim recollection from Faraday's Chemical History of a Candle Flame states
this as vapors will condense, gases will not. Not as exact as the definition
above, but easier for students to remember.
Demo I use to show this is that the wax and water vapor from a burning
candle could be made to condense, but the CO2 could not (at room temp. of
course).

Scott


*****************************
S.Goelzer
Physics Teacher
Coe - Brown Northwood Academy
Northwood NH 03261
603-942-5531 ext43
sgoelzer@coebrownacademy.com
*****************************