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Question

There is a chemical nail polish remover called acetone. If you put acetone in the palm of your hand, you would feel your palm getting cold.

Why do you think that is?


A

Freezing of petrol on your hand.

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B

Evaporation of petrol.

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C

Boiling of petrol over your hand.

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D

Melting of petrol on your hand.

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Solution

The correct option is B

Evaporation of petrol.


Evaporation is the process where the molecules at the surface of a liquid gain enough energy to break away from the surface. They become gaseous.

Think of molecules like tiny balls in the picture. In a liquid, the intermolecular forces are stronger than gases. So the molecules are trying to pull each other, trying to hold together. But some molecules at the surface are able to break away from this pull. When they break away, they reduce the temperature of the liquid. This is why we sweat when we are hot. So that it will reduce our temperature when the sweat evaporates.

And this is the same reason why acetone in our palm feels colder. Also, acetone evaporates faster than water because the intermolecular forces in acetone are weaker. So it is easier for molecules to break away. Because the fast evaporating acetone molecules are taking away heat from the palm and it feels cold.


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