Studying the Rate of Evaporation Using Pocket and Computer-Supported Weighing Scales

• Petr Kácovský ^[1]
  1. [1] Charles University in Prague

     Charles University in Prague

     Chequia

     
• Localización: The Physics Teacher, ISSN 0031-921X, Vol. 59, Nº. 6, 2021, págs. 493-496
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Already when they enter primary school, children have rich everyday experience with factors influencing the rate of liquids’ evaporation. Tea spilled into a large puddle on the table evaporates more rapidly than the same amount remaining in the cup, laundry hanging on a clothesline dries faster on a hot and windy day in comparison with a cold and windless one. We use examples such as these when we tell students that the rate of evaporation is affected by the temperature of a liquid, its surface area, and the airflow above the surface that accelerates the removal of vapors; the type of liquid is also essential. This paper describes a simple way of approximate quantification of these effects in a few hands-on experiments using weighing scales.