Question

Explain latent heat at molecular level
What is latent heat used for??

Answer 1

Latent heat, energy absorbed or released by a substance during a change in its physical state (phase) that occurs without changing its temperature. The latent heat associated with melting a solid or freezing a liquid is called the heat of fusion; that associated with vaporizing a liquid or a solid or condensing a vapour is called the heat of vaporization. The latent heat is normally expressed as the amount of heat (in units of joules or calories) per mole or unit mass of the substance undergoing a change of state.

Some of the applications of specific latent heat are as follows.

• Quenching Fire by Using Boiling Water. Water that is boiled quickly becomes hot that is able to absorb a greater amount of latent heat from the fire.
• Melting of Ice on the Road with the Help of Salt. As we know that the specific latent heat of fusion of salt is more than ice. Hence, the salt will require more heat energy when it is placed on the road having a thick layer of ice and absorbing energy from ice. Hence, ice will melt.
• Cooling Drink by the Use of Cold Water and Ice A glass of cold drink can be cooled easily by adding cold water or ice into it.During the melting of ice, a large amount of latent heat is absorbed from the drink and this causes the drink to lose heat energy and its temperature lowers due to the melting of ice. Ice absorbs large quantities of latent heat during the process of melting.

$\huge \bold{@DarkShadow7083 }$