what does non-volatile mean?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
I've always thought of volitile as something you'll smell pretty easily like it evaporates readily... something like paint thinner or gasoline. Then non-volitile would be something like water.
 
I've always thought of volitile as something you'll smell pretty easily like it evaporates readily... something like paint thinner or gasoline. Then non-volitile would be something like water.

Something that does not vaporize easily...
 
Did you ever see the lid of a test tube pop off in the lab? Substances that are highly volatile evaporate easily and place a lot of pressure on the walls of the tube hence the lid pops off...
With that said, does this mean that substances with fewer intermolecular forces like H-bonding will be more volatile? Water has lots of H-bonding and is non-volatile so I am assume this is true?
 
Top