In our experiment, we but tap water and distilled water in a room with average air flow, it was 21 degrees Celsius, and we had two glass beakers, one containing 50mL of distilled water and one containing 50mL of tap water which will evaporate quicker?

Answer 1

In general, distilled water tends to evaporate faster than tap water. This can be attributed to a couple of factors:

1. Impurities: Tap water contains various dissolved minerals and impurities (such as salts, chlorides, and other substances) that can affect the evaporation process. The presence of these impurities can interfere with the evaporation of water molecules.

2. Vapor Pressure: Distilled water has a higher vapor pressure compared to tap water because it is purer and has fewer solutes. The higher vapor pressure means that the molecules in distilled water are more likely to escape into the air as vapor.

However, the actual difference in evaporation rates may be minimal and can also be influenced by other factors such as the size of the surface area, air flow, and specific conditions in the environment. In your experiment at 21 degrees Celsius with average airflow, you may observe that distilled water evaporates slightly quicker than tap water under these conditions.