Water boiling point and pressure

by: Nicholas Schettini

In this analysis, I am setting out to determine how the boiling point of water is effected by various pressure differences. This data can show us the relationship of how the boiling point of water changes at different altitudes.

First, we must require the MASS package, so the data set can be loaded. We also attach the data set so it’s easier to work with.

require(MASS)
## Loading required package: MASS
attach(forbes)

We can then call a summary of the entire data set, showing various variables that show important information for the analysis.

summary(forbes)
##        bp             pres      
##  Min.   :194.3   Min.   :20.79  
##  1st Qu.:199.4   1st Qu.:23.15  
##  Median :201.3   Median :24.01  
##  Mean   :203.0   Mean   :25.06  
##  3rd Qu.:208.6   3rd Qu.:27.76  
##  Max.   :212.2   Max.   :30.06

The data from the summary shows quite a few numbers. The mean, median, boiling points, pressure, etc.

There are a few we are mostly interested in for this study. The min boiling point in Fahrenheit is 194.3 degrees, with a pressure of 20.79. The max boiling point of 212 degrees Fahrenheit (normal sea level BP), with a pressure of 30.06.

It becomes more apparent the relationship the variables when plotted in a visual, or graph format. 

hist(bp)

hist(pres)

Looking at the data from our graphs, we can see that as barometric pressure increases, so does the boiling point of water.

In molecules, temperature changes influence the speed, and spacing of molecules. When a substance is placed in a cool environment, its particles slow down and come closer together. When placed in a warmer environment, the molecules speed up and move further apart.

When pressure is increased in a substance, the molecules hold more tightly together, thus requiring more energy (heat) for them to speed up, and move further apart.

Using the data, scientists can test how pressure effects certain substances, which could be useful for hikers climbing tall mountains, or have uses in NASA, or other types of aerospace applications.

Some next steps could be to test how other substances react to the change of pressure, then eventually test human reactions (which has already been tested, but would be interesting to look at data.)