The key difference between saturated liquid and compressed liquid is that we can make a saturated liquid via adding solutes to a solvent until we cannot add any more solutes whereas the compressed liquid forms when we apply an external pressure until the solution compress due to the reduction of the empty spaces between the molecules.
Saturation and compression are important physical properties of any liquid. As compared to solids, the inter-molecular spaces in liquids are large implying that they can be compressed by applying pressure. On the other hand, saturation refers to a point when we cannot add anymore solute to the liquid. When we apply more pressure on a liquid in addition to the atmospheric pressure, it tends to compress as there are empty spaces between the molecules. There are differences between saturated liquid and compressed liquid that we briefly describe below.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is a Saturated Liquid
3. What is a Compressed Liquid
4. Side by Side Comparison – Saturated Liquid vs Compressed Liquid in Tabular Form
5. Summary
What is a Saturated Liquid?
We can define a saturated liquid as a liquid whose temperature and pressure are such that if you try to decrease the pressure without changing the temperature, the liquid begins to boil.
Figure 01: Saturation of enzyme-containing Solutions with a Substrate
Another way of defining it is in terms of its intermolecular spaces. Here, we can define it as a solution that contains enough of another solid, liquid or gas in such a manner that no more of a solid, liquid or gas will dissolve in the solution at a given temperature and pressure.
What is a Compressed Liquid?
The conditions that a solution requires in order to classify it as a compressed liquid are as follows:
- Its specific volume should be less than the specific volume of that liquid when saturated
- Temperature should be below the saturation temperature
- Its pressure should be more than its saturation pressure
- Enthalpy (sum of internal energy and the product of the pressure and volume) of the compressed liquid must be less than the enthalpy of the saturated liquid
Whenever we talk of a compressed liquid, we imply that their pressure is greater than their saturation pressure at any given temperature. In general, a compressed liquid can be considered as a saturated liquid at a given temperature.
What is the Difference Between Saturated Liquid and Compressed Liquid?
The saturated liquid is a liquid whose temperature and pressure are such that if you try to decrease the pressure without changing the temperature, the liquid begins to boil whereas as compressed liquid is a liquid under mechanical or thermodynamic conditions that force it to be a liquid. This is one notable difference between saturated liquid and compressed liquid. Moreover, we can make a saturated liquid via adding solutes to a solvent until we cannot add any more solutes while compressed liquid forms when we apply an external pressure until the solution compress due to the reduction of the empty spaces between the molecules. This is the key difference between saturated liquid and compressed liquid.
The below infographic presents the difference between saturated liquid and compressed liquid in tabular form.
Summary – Saturated Liquid vs Compressed Liquid
A liquid is a phase of matter which contains molecules having intermolecular spaces larger than solids and smaller than gases. This gives the liquids their ability to flow. However, we can add solutes to a liquid (a solution) in order to fill up the empty spaces between the molecules (intermolecular spaces). Or we can compress the liquid in order to reduce the empty spaces. Therefore, the difference between saturated liquid and compressed liquid is in their preparation method; we can give it as that we can make a saturated liquid via adding solutes to a solvent until we cannot add any more solutes whereas a compressed liquid forms when we apply an external pressure until the solution compress due to the reduction of the empty spaces between the molecules.