Alexandria University
Faculty of Engineering
Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering
Report on / Water Sublimation
Ibrahim Ali Mohamed Ibrahim 22010476
Definition of Sublimation
Sublimation is the conversion between the solid and the gaseous phases of
matter, with no intermediate liquid stage. For those of us interested in the water
cycle, sublimation is most often used to describe the process of snow and ice
changing into water vapor (gas) in the air without first melting into water. The
opposite of sublimation is "deposition", where water vapor changes directly into
ice—such a snowflakes and frost.
It is not easy to actually see sublimation occurring, at least not with ice. One way
to see the results of sublimation is to hang a wet shirt outside on a below-freezing
day. Eventually the ice in the shirt will disappear. An easier way to visualize
sublimation is to not use water at all, but to use carbon dioxide instead.
Sublimation occurs more readily when certain weather conditions are present,
such as low relative humidity and dry winds. Sublimation also occurs more at
higher altitudes, where the air pressure is less than at lower altitudes. Energy,
such as strong sunlight, is also needed. An example of where sublimation happens
"There's more than one way for Mother Nature to get rid of a fresh blanket of
snow. The most common way, of course, is by melting-which gives everyone the
pleasure of trudging through slush, mud, and water. But in the western U.S.,
there's a wind called the Chinook, or "snow eater," that vaporizes snow before it
even has a chance to melt."
"Chinook winds are westerlies from the Pacific whose moisture gets wrung out as
it passes over the Rocky Mountains. Once these winds come down from the
mountains onto the high plains, they can be quite mild and extremely dry, as
warm as 60- or 70-degrees Fahrenheit — over 15 Celsius — with a relative
humidity of 10% or less. The air is so dry that when it hits a snowpack, the frozen
water evaporates, going directly from the ice to vapor and bypassing the liquid
phase entirely. This is called sublimation, and it's a common way for snow to
disappear in the arid West."
Can't sublimate without the heat
Without the addition of energy (heat) to the process, ice would not sublimate into
vapor. That is where sunlight plays a large role in the natural world. Water has a
physical property called the "heat of vaporization," which is the amount of heat
required to vaporize water. The heat of vaporization of water is 540
calories/gram, or 2,260 kilojoules/kilogram. That is a lot more energy than is
needed to convert water to ice (the latent heat of fusion), which is 80
calories/gram. It is also about five times the energy needed for heating water
from the freezing point to the boiling point. In summary, energy is needed for the
sublimation of ice to vapor to occur, and most of the energy is needed in the
vaporization phase. A cubic centimeter (1 gram) of water in ice form requires 80
calories to melt, 100 calories to rise to boiling point, and another 540 calories to
vaporize, a total of 720 calories. Sublimation requires the same energy input, but
bypasses the liquid phase.
Confusions
While the definition of sublimation is simple, there is often confusion as to what counts as a
sublimation.
False correspondence with vaporization
Vaporization (from liquid to gas) is divided into two types: vaporization on the
surface of the liquid is called evaporation, and vaporization at the boiling point
with formation of bubbles in the interior of the liquid is called boiling. However
there is no such distinction for the solid-to-gas transition, which is always called
sublimation in both corresponding cases.
Potential distinction
For clarification, a distinction between the two corresponding cases is needed.
With reference to a phase diagram, the sublimation that occurs left of the solid-
gas boundary, the triple point or the solid-liquid boundary (corresponding to
evaporation in vaporization) may be called gradual sublimation; and the
substance sublimes gradually, regardless of rate. The sublimation that occurs at
the solid-gas boundary (critical sublimation point) (corresponding to boiling in
vaporization) may be called rapid sublimation, and the substance sublimes
rapidly. Note that both the words "gradual" and "rapid" have acquired special
meanings in such context and no longer describe the rate of sublimation.
Misuse for chemical reaction
The term sublimation refers specifically to a physical change of state and is not
used to describe the transformation of a solid to a gas in a chemical reaction. For
example, the dissociation on heating of solid ammonium chloride into hydrogen
chloride and ammonia is not sublimation but a chemical reaction. Similarly the
combustion of candles, containing paraffin wax, to carbon dioxide and water
vapor is not sublimation but a chemical reaction with oxygen.
Historical definition
Sublimation is historically used as a generic term to describe a two-step phase
transition ― a solid-to-gas transition (sublimation in a more precise definition)
followed by a gas-to-solid transition .
Whether a material will sublimate (solid to gas), melt (solid to liquid) or vapourise
(liquid to gas) depends on the temperature and pressure of the environment in
which it is located. This can be illustrated in a ‘phase diagram’ such as the one
below for water. In this case, and with the pressures (1 atmosphere) and
temperatures (25 degrees Celsius) we are accustomed to on Earth, water ice will
melt to form liquid water, which will then vapourise to form water vapour.
However, if the pressures are low enough (for example, the pressures we find
elsewhere in the Solar System), water ice will turn directly into water vapour as
the temperature increases, bypassing the liquid water stage.
Sublimation occurs in many places in the Solar System. Two examples are:
The sublimation of water from cometary nuclei as the comet approaches
the Sun’
The sublimation of the polar ice caps on Mars during the Martian summer.
The phase diagram for water. The low pressures found elsewhere in the Solar
System mean that water will sublimate rather than melt, bypassing the liquid
state.
