Question

A volatile liquid ______.
(A) evaporates quickly at room temperature
(B) solidifies quickly at room temperature
(C) liquifies quickly at room temperature
(D) does not evaporate quickly

Answer 1

Hint: The term volatile is usually applied to liquids. Sometimes, solids directly change their state from solid to vapour without even becoming liquid for a while. This process is however, known as sublimation (but that’s not the topic of discussion anyway).

Complete answer:
Let us study the term volatility;
Volatility-
The term volatility describes the fact of the substance who can ‘easily evaporate’. It has no defined numerical value rather it is described in terms of vapor pressures and boiling points.
If the sufficient amount of kinetic energy is being provided then, most of the liquids can become gases through the process known as vaporisation. The vaporisation ability of a liquid depends on the chemical properties of the same. Volatile liquids evaporate at normal temperature and have measurable vapor pressure.
In short, volatile liquids are the liquids that evaporate at room temperature or can vaporise easily. They have low boiling points. They include ethanol, acetone, petrol, ether, etc.
Thus, volatile liquids evaporate quickly at room temperature.

Hence, option (A) is correct.

Note:
At some given temperature and pressure, a substance which has high volatility is more likely to exist as a vapor whereas, a substance with high volatility will exist as liquid or solid.
Also, chemical bonds contribute to the property of volatility. Weaker the bond lowers the energy to break it and thus, higher the volatility at normal temperature and pressure.