Heat is removed from a gas, and the substance becomes a liquid. How can you explain this?

1 Answer
anor277
Apr 4, 2016

You are moving from a gaseous (high energy) phase to a condensed (lower energy) phase.

Explanation:

Let's represent the vaporization reaction:

#"Liquid + heat " rightleftharpoons " Gas"#

This is certainly an equilibrium reaction, and we can designate the energy transfer as a reactant; removal of the heat (cooling) should drive the equilibrium to the left hand side of the equation.

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