Surely, every person has come across the concept of sublimation in physics more than once. In schools, several lessons are always devoted to this topic, and in higher educational institutions, aimed at a deeper study of the exact sciences, they pay special attention to it. So, in the article you will learn what sublimation and desublimation are in physics.
General concept
Sublimation in physics is the process of transition of a substance from a solid state to a gaseous state, bypassing the liquid state. In another way, it is called the sublimation of a substance. This process is accompanied by the absorption of energy (in physics this energy is called the "heat of sublimation"). The process is very important and has wide applications in experimental physics.
Desublimation is, on the contrary, the process of transition of a substance from a gaseous to a solid state. Another name for this process is "deposition". It is the complete opposite of sublimation. During deposition, energy is released, not absorbed, and in very large quantities. Desublimation is also very important, but much more difficult to bringan example of its purposeful use by a person, especially in everyday life.
Process Description
Catalysts for sublimation in physics can be almost anything. Sometimes substances sublimate (as this very process is called in physics) when they reach a certain temperature. As a rule, we are talking about a temperature above average, however, there are some exceptions when substances "elevate" at negative values.
Sometimes oxygen can be the catalyst for this process. In such cases, the substance will turn into a gaseous substance upon contact with air. By the way, this technique is often used by directors in science fiction films. Great, isn't it?!
For desublimation, the catalysts are exactly the same, but you need to catch one pattern: all parameters, with the exception of some special chemical reactions, will be negative. That is, if during sublimation the bulk of the processes occur at positive temperatures, then during deposition, on the contrary, low ones will appear.
It is also worth noting that the transition occurs sequentially. Each period of time has its own transition.
Many scientists even divide it into stages, but you don't have to. Let's apply it to the run-off, and to the reverse process. This is what allows physicists to control the process and use it even in everyday life.
Examples
There are many examples of sublimation in physics, but there are also examplesThere are also quite a few reverse processes. Both categories are worth considering.
So, examples of the trim:
- Dry ice.
- Drying laundry in the cold.
Probably the most common example of a process. Surely, everyone at least once saw or held in his hands. At one time, dry ice was an extremely popular subject for filming videos on YouTube. Almost everyone has seen at least one such video. It should be noted that ice is used not only for entertainment purposes. It also has quite a wide range of household uses.
Absolutely every housewife hangs out clothes in the cold in winter. It would seem that it should return frozen, but it returns completely dry. This is due to the fact that the sublimation of water molecules occurred. This is the most illustrative example of the use of sublimation in physics.
It's time to move on to the deposition. It is advisable to consider examples:
- Frost.
- The pattern on the windows in winter.
This is the most obvious example of desublimation in nature, which absolutely everyone has contacted. The process occurs with an extremely sharp cooling and too rapid passage of the dew point. This phenomenon is widespread. You can see frost in late autumn and winter. It is most clearly distinguishable in October-November, when there is still very little snow.
Yes, it turns out that desublimation creates our New Year's atmosphere. Intricate patterns arise fromhuge difference between outdoor and indoor temperatures.
What is it for
The process of sublimation, in addition to the fact that it is often found in nature, is widely used in everyday matters. This is due to convenience, as well as the low toxicity of things prone to this process. So, here are some examples of its use in everyday life:
- Drying laundry. As mentioned above, water molecules simply erode, bypassing one of the states of aggregation. This method of drying is still almost the most popular.
- Color printers. Solid colored paint particles immediately turn into a gaseous state under the influence of pressure and temperature. Despite the fact that this method is a thing of the past, in some places it is still common today.
- Moth repellents and aromatic plates. Often one of these items can be found in the closet. Such plates do not just dissolve, as many people think, but go into a state of gas and carry the smell.
Besides this, sublimation is widely used in various physical experiments. It is interesting to note that in chemistry, the ability of substances to sublimate is often the fundamental cause of a qualitative reaction.
Where else does this term occur
The term "sublimation" can be found not only in physics and chemistry. It also applies to psychology. In this science, its decoding is completely different: it is a way to "let off steam", radically changing your type of activity.
Also the term is used in the path of printing. In this domainactivity, the definition changes: sublimation printing is one of the ways to transfer an image to any surface using paint that goes through a process of sublimation. Simply put, this is one way to print on any surface.
Conclusion
In conclusion of this article, it should be noted that sublimation, even though its concept is found in various spheres of society, primarily remains a physical term. It is from there, as they say, "legs grow." Carefully read the definition of sublimation in physics, and then compare it with all the other transcripts. Thus, you will see that the terms are similar in their meaning. The fact is that each of them is adapted to a particular field of activity in question.
