What is boiling? When does a substance boil?

1 Answer
Jun 8, 2017

#"The boiling point"# is defined as the temperature.......

Explanation:

The #"boiling point"# is defined as the temperature at which the vapour pressure of the liquid is equal to the ambient pressure, and bubbles of vapour form directly in the liquid. The #"normal boiling point"# is specified when the ambient pressure is #1*atm#.

Of course, if we reduce the ambient pressure, the boiling point will be substantially reduced, and this is an example of the principle of #"vacuum distillation"#, where an otherwise involatile liquid is distilled under high vacuum.