vapor pressure

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noun

the pressure exerted by the molecules of a vapor, especially that part of the total pressure exerted by vapor in a mixture of gases, as by water vapor in air.

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Also called vapor tension.

Origin of vapor pressure

Probably earlier than 1895–1900

Words nearby vapor pressure

vaporization, vaporize, vaporizer, vapor lock, vaporous, vapor pressure, vapor tension, vapor trail, vaporware, vapory, vapour

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use vapor pressure in a sentence

One way to measure this effect is through vapor pressure deficit, or VPD, which is the difference between how much water vapor the air could hold and how much is actually there.
El Paso was “drought-proof.” Climate change is pushing its limits.|Casey Crownhart|December 20, 2021|MIT Technology Review
Last year, the entire Southwest had a high vapor pressure deficit, and then a fortuitous ignition.
What’s Fueling Today’s Extreme Fires - Issue 104: Harmony|Dan Falk|August 4, 2021|Nautilus
The relative humidity is simply the ratio of the vapor pressure at the dew point to the pressure of saturated vapor (see Fig. 30).
Seasoning of Wood|Joseph B. Wagner
Another factor contributing to the ease of handling of 1,2-butylene oxide is its vapor pressure.
U.S. Patent 4,293,314: Gelled Fuel-Air Explosive|Bertram O. Stull

Nearness to a coast does not mean uniform vapor pressure, for with wind alternating from sea to land, it means just the opposite.
The Dollar Hen|Milo M. Hastings
Let me first repeat that evaporation increases with increased air currents and with decreased vapor pressure.
The Dollar Hen|Milo M. Hastings
Now, the vapor pressure undergoes all manner of changes with the passing of storm centers and the changes of prevailing winds.
The Dollar Hen|Milo M. Hastings

Scientific definitions for vapor pressure

vapor pressure

The pressure exerted by a vapor on the solid or liquid phase with which it is in equilibrium. At pressures lower than the vapor pressure, more atoms or molecules of the liquid or solid vaporize and escape from the surface of the liquid or solid than are absorbed from the vapor, resulting in evaporation. At the vapor pressure the exchange is equal and there is no net evaporation. Also called evaporation pressure

The pressure exerted by water vapor in the atmosphere.

Cultural definitions for vapor pressure

vapor pressure

In physics and chemistry, the atmospheric pressure that would be exerted by any single component of a gas if that component were the only one present. For example, the vapor pressure of oxygen in the atmosphere of the Earth is the pressure that would exist if everything but oxygen were removed. The total atmospheric pressure is the sum of the vapor pressures of all the materials in the atmosphere.