Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Alcohol and Cooking -- Does it Really Evaporate?

JustJess · 12-27-2005, 08:11 AM

When you boil a liquid, what's happening is that the electrons are accepting heat energy and are becoming so excited that they jump to higher orbitals until the whole molecule absorbs enough heat energy to jump to the air. The heat is just an accelerator - the molecules would eventually jump to the air by themselves (evaporation).

That being said, even with heat energy added, not all molecules will jump, though MOST will. So there will be a neglible amount of alcohol left, but nothing to worry about (unless you're mtsgsd's bro in law). And yes, alcohol has a lower specific heat than water or many other substances, so it's more likely to jump first.

As for No. 2, I don't know, but I read that article about inhaled drinks too. Weird.

No. 3, yes, it is different. In boiling alcohol, the molecules are simply excited into the air. If you burn alcohol, it is used as a fuel itself, thus undergoes a chemical reaction - aka a change in its chemical makeup. What the byproducts are, I couldn't tell you off the top of my head. But they are likely no longer alcohol molecules.

Does that help?

12-27-2005, 08:11 AM	#16 (permalink)
JustJess Unencapsulated Location: Kittyville	When you boil a liquid, what's happening is that the electrons are accepting heat energy and are becoming so excited that they jump to higher orbitals until the whole molecule absorbs enough heat energy to jump to the air. The heat is just an accelerator - the molecules would eventually jump to the air by themselves (evaporation). That being said, even with heat energy added, not all molecules will jump, though MOST will. So there will be a neglible amount of alcohol left, but nothing to worry about (unless you're mtsgsd's bro in law). And yes, alcohol has a lower specific heat than water or many other substances, so it's more likely to jump first. As for No. 2, I don't know, but I read that article about inhaled drinks too. Weird. No. 3, yes, it is different. In boiling alcohol, the molecules are simply excited into the air. If you burn alcohol, it is used as a fuel itself, thus undergoes a chemical reaction - aka a change in its chemical makeup. What the byproducts are, I couldn't tell you off the top of my head. But they are likely no longer alcohol molecules. Does that help? __________________ My heart knows me better than I know myself, so I'm gonna let it do all the talkin'.