Volatility ( chemistry ) - wikipedia Volatility ( chemistry ) In chemistry and physics, volatility is quantified by the tendency of a substance to vaporize. Volatility is directly related to a substance 's vapor pressure. At a given temperature, a substance with higher vapor pressure vaporizes more readily than a substance with a lower vapor pressure. The term is primarily written to be applied to liquids ; however, it may be used to describe the process of sublimation which is associated with solid substances, such as dry ice ( solid carbon dioxide ) and osmium tetroxide ( OsO ), which can change directly from the solid state to a vapor, without becoming liquid. A log - lin vapor pressure chart for various liquids Contents 1 Relations between vapor pressure, temperature, and boiling point 2 See also 3 References 4 External links Relations between vapor pressure, temperature, and boiling point Main article : Vapor pressure The vapor pressure of a substance is the pressure at which its gas phase is in equilibrium with its condensed phases ( liquid or solid ). It is a measure of the tendency of molecules and atoms to escape from a liquid or a solid. A liquid 's atmospheric pressure boiling point corresponds to the temperature at which its vapor pressure is equal to the surrounding atmospheric pressure and it is often called the normal boiling point. The higher the vapor pressure of a liquid at a given temperature, the higher the volatility and the lower the normal boiling point of the liquid. The vapor pressure chart ( right hand side ) displays the vapor pressures dependency for a variety of liquids as a function of temperature. For example, at any given temperature, chloromethane ( methyl chloride ) has the highest vapor pressure of any of the liquids in the chart. It also has the lowest normal boiling point ( − 24.2 ° C ), which is where the vapor pressure curve ( the blue line ) intersects the horizontal pressure line of one atmosphere ( atm ) of absolute vapor pressure. See also Clausius -- Clapeyron relation Distillation Fractional distillation Partial pressure Raoult 's law Relative volatility Vapor -- liquid equilibrium Volatile organic compound References Jump up ^ Gases and Vapor ( University of Kentucky website ) Jump up ^ Definition of Terms ( University of Victoria website ) Jump up ^ James G. Speight ( 2006 ). The Chemistry and Technology of Petroleum ( 4th ed. ). CRC Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8493 - 9067 - 8. Jump up ^ Kister, Henry Z. ( 1992 - 02 - 01 ). Distillation Design ( 1st ed. ). McGraw - hill. ISBN 978 - 0 - 07 - 034909 - 4. Jump up ^ Perry, R.H. and Green, D.W. ( Editors ) ; Don W. Green ; James O. Maloney ( 1997 ). Perry 's Chemical Engineers ' Handbook ( 7th ed. ). McGraw - Hill. ISBN 978 - 0 - 07 - 049841 - 9. CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list ( link ) CS1 maint : Extra text : authors list ( link ) External links Volatility from ilpi.com Definition of volatile from Wiktionary States of matter ( list ) State Solid Liquid Gas / Vapor Plasma Low energy Bose -- Einstein condensate Fermionic condensate Degenerate matter Quantum Hall Rydberg matter Strange matter Superfluid Supersolid Photonic matter High energy QCD matter Lattice QCD Quark -- gluon plasma Supercritical fluid Other states Colloid Glass Liquid crystal Quantum spin liquid Magnetically ordered Antiferromagnet Ferrimagnet Ferromagnet String - net liquid Superglass Transitions Boiling Boiling point Condensation Critical line Critical point Crystallization Deposition Evaporation Flash evaporation Freezing Chemical ionization Ionization Lambda point Melting Melting point Recombination Regelation Saturated fluid Sublimation Supercooling Triple point Vaporization Vitrification Quantities Enthalpy of fusion Enthalpy of sublimation Enthalpy of vaporization Latent heat Latent internal energy Trouton 's ratio Volatility Concepts Binodal Compressed fluid Cooling curve Equation of state Leidenfrost effect Macroscopic quantum phenomena Mpemba effect Order and disorder ( physics ) Spinodal Superconductivity Superheated vapor Superheating Thermo - dielectric effect Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Volatility_(chemistry)&oldid=782736894 '' Categories : Physical chemistry Chemical properties Thermodynamic properties Engineering thermodynamics Gases Hidden categories : CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list CS1 maint : Extra text : authors list Talk Contents About Wikipedia Català Čeština Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español فارسی Français Հայերեն हिन्दी Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Magyar Nederlands Polski Português Română Русский Svenska Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 28 May 2017, at 21 : 43. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: when is a liquid considered to be a very volatile liquid
Answer: The higher the vapor pressure of a liquid at a given temperature