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Veritasium
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These resources have been reviewed and selected by STEM Learning’s team of education specialists for factual accuracy and relevance to teaching STEM subjects in UK schools.
Making solid nitrogen
This video begins by showing how reducing the pressure above water reduces its boiling point (it boils at RT). This is because the water molecules require less energy to escape into the atmosphere above it. It also shows that as the most energetic molecules boil, the liquid is left with less energetic molecules and so the water temperature decreases (T is related to KE).
The same demonstration is shown with liquid nitrogen. As the pressure is reduced the nitrogen boils and as the most energetic molecules escape the liquid cools further until solid nitrogen forms at it triple point.
A further demonstration shows how carbon dioxide can be solidified directly from the air!
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