Volatility (chemistry) Volatility (chemistry) In chemistry and physics, volatility is quantified by the tendency of a substance to vaporize. Volatility is directly related to a substance's vapor pressure. At a given temperature, a substance with higher vapor pressure vaporizes more readily than a substance with a lower vapor pressure. The term is primarily written to be applied to liquids; however, it may be used to describe the process of sublimation which is associated with solid substances, such as dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) and osmium tetroxide (OsO), which can change directly from the solid state to a vapor, without becoming liquid. The
Comparison of chemistry and physics mathematical treatment) while chemistry places more emphasis in combining the most important mathematical definitions of the theory with the approach of the molecular models. Laboratory skills may differ in both programs, as students may be involved in different technologies, depending on the program and the institution of higher education (for example, a chemistry student may spend more laboratory time dealing with glassware for distillation and purification or on a form of chromatography-spectroscopy instrument, while a physics student may spend much more time dealing with a laser and non-linear optics technology or some complex electrical circuit). According to Bureau of Labor