Clausius–Clapeyron Equation (Two-Point Form)

Also known as clausius clapeyron · heat of vaporization from vapor pressure · vapour pressure temperature · boiling point elevation with altitude

ln⁡ ⁣(P2P1)=−ΔHvapR(1T2−1T1)\ln\!\left(\frac{P_2}{P_1}\right) = -\frac{\Delta H_{vap}}{R}\left(\frac{1}{T_2} - \frac{1}{T_1}\right)

Worked example: Water at 80 degC → 48.20 kPa from the 100 degC point — press Try an example to run it live, then adjust anything.

Enter your known values, leave one input blank, and solves for the missing one. Tap a variable’s symbol to see what it means, with a typical value. Try different units for next level excitement!

Here the solver did the work — could you?

Vapour pressure stories →

Grade 12Grade 12 Chemistry

Vapour pressure curves →

UniversityThermodynamics & Heat Transfer

Test your skills in the Exam Room: new numbers every attempt — free lessons for students, no sign-up, just pure learning.

See your Report Card
Compete with your friends
share your results
Learning zone

Clausius–Clapeyron Equation (Two-Point Form) explained

T1P1T2P2ΔH

Integrate the Clapeyron equation with the two honest simplifications, that the vapour is ideal and that ΔHvap\Delta H_{vap} does not change over the interval, and this two-point form falls out. It is the workhorse for turning two boiling points into an enthalpy of vaporisation, or one boiling point into all the others. A liquid boiling at 373.15 K under one atmosphere and at 354.75 K under half an atmosphere has ΔHvap=Rln⁡2/(1/354.75−1/373.15)=41.5 kJ/mol\Delta H_{vap} = R\ln 2 / (1/354.75 - 1/373.15) = 41.5\ \text{kJ/mol}, which is water to within a couple of percent.

Run it forward on water from 100 °C down to 80 °C with ΔHvap=40.7 kJ/mol\Delta H_{vap} = 40.7\ \text{kJ/mol} and it predicts 48.2 kPa. Steam tables say 47.4 kPa. That 1.7% gap is not an arithmetic error, it is the cost of holding ΔH\Delta H constant across 20 K, and it grows fast as you widen the interval. Near the critical point ΔHvap\Delta H_{vap} collapses towards zero and the equation fails outright.

The unglamorous mistake is temperature units. Both temperatures go in as absolute values, because they appear as 1/T1/T and the reciprocal of a Celsius reading is meaningless. This page takes any temperature unit and converts, but if you are working the equation on paper, convert to kelvin first. The unexpected use, incidentally, is in the kitchen and on mountains: the same equation, run backwards, tells you that at 3000 m water boils near 90 °C, which is why high-altitude cooking directions exist.

Clausius–Clapeyron Equation (Two-Point Form)

ln⁡ ⁣(P2P1)=−ΔHvapR(1T2−1T1)\ln\!\left(\frac{P_2}{P_1}\right) = -\frac{\Delta H_{vap}}{R}\left(\frac{1}{T_2} - \frac{1}{T_1}\right)
Where
  • P1P_1= Vapour pressure at T₁ (kPa)
  • T1T_1= Temperature 1 (°C)
  • P2P_2= Vapour pressure at T₂ (kPa)
  • T2T_2= Temperature 2 (°C)
  • ΔHvap\Delta H_{vap}= Enthalpy of vaporisation (kJ/mol)