Help I finally understand what does boiling point mean

[curiousbeing]

My method: butane / or butane - propane inhalation during drowning. In my other posts, I wrote a lot about this.

But I couldn't understand, what does -0.5C temperature boiling point of butane mean. ChatGpt answer was hard for me to answer

Today I googled again, here are some useful stuff I found:

"As mentioned above, the boiling point of propane is -43.6 degrees Fahrenheit, which is much lower than the boiling point of butane, which is 30.2 degrees Fahrenheit."

This means that propane will work just fine in low temperature, unlike butane.

But exactly what's boiling point?

" The primary culprit is butane, which stops vaporizing at 31 degrees Fahrenheit (its boiling point)."

" when the butane reaches 32° the liquid will stay liquid and no longer vaporize"

This means that, essentially, I won't be able to inhale butane in low temperature. To test whether it will vaporize or not, according to Google, I can use a butane lighter. If butane lighter works at cold temperature, it means butane can will work too (it will release vaporized butane)


Hope my understanding is correct.

 

[Forveleth]

We often confuse "boiling" with "hot" because our reference is water, which boils at quite a hot temperature (for us). However "boiling" merely means the temperature at which a liquid turns into a gas. It does not have to be "hot" at all.

Think about this, the air that you are breathing right now is a gas. That means its boiling point is colder than the temperature you are sitting at (otherwise you would be in a liquid). Oxygen's boiling point, for example, is −182 °C/−297 °F, very cold!

So, butane goes from a liquid to a gas at -0.5 °C or just slightly below the freezing point of water. Any colder than that and butane will stay a liquid.

 

[curiousbeing]

We often confuse "boiling" with "hot" because our reference is water, which boils at quite a hot temperature (for us). However "boiling" merely means the temperature at which a liquid turns into a gas. It does not have to be "hot" at all.

Think about this, the air that you are breathing right now is a gas. That means its boiling point is colder than the temperature you are sitting at (otherwise you would be in a liquid). Oxygen's boiling point, for example, is −182 °C/−297 °F, very cold!

So, butane goes from a liquid to a gas at -0.5 °C or just slightly below the freezing point of water. Any colder than that and butane will stay a liquid.

Thank you so much for your explanation, now it makes perfect sense. I have one question, why in mixture of propane and butane can label it is written that " temperature must be at least 18C for it to work effectively". Propane boiling point is so low, i can use it at sea with 3C weather temperature. But it seems, temperatures lower than 18C won't work very well with butane, but why? Butane boiling point is - 0.5C, but why its effectiveness is allegedly reduced if, say, weather temperature is 10C?

 

[Forveleth]

Are you sure it does not say "-18C"?

 

[curiousbeing]

Are you sure it does not say "-18C"?

it wrote 18C. But yeah, its label had so many grammar mistakes. probably they wanted to write -18C. Thanks for helping me realize this. its label were full of errors

Are you sure it does not say "-18C"?

weather temperature is between 4-12C. I am sure it will work. And even if butane doesn't work, propane-butane mixture can will work

 

[Forveleth]

From the "Liquid Gas Handbook":

The single significant difference between propane and butane is their boiling points, the temperature at which each will vaporize. Butane boils at approximately +32°F (0°C), propane at -44°F (-42°C) at atmospheric pressure. Therefore, at 0°F (-18°C), butane will not vaporize at atmospheric pressure while propane will.

Source:

https://www.psgdover.com/docs/default-source/blackmer-docs/application-bulletins/500-00166aeef7480fb4eb399512c940e5943a8.pdf?sfvrsn=8280e525_10