Water is very polar, so it's rarely seen in it's pure homeogenious state (not combined with other minerals it picks up when it touches them). When it boils, it leaves behind those minerals, and this is the idea behind distilling water.

So my question is: Does water vapor have any strong enough bonds to pull other atoms with it? (even if in small amounts.)

It "condenses" on anything it can continuously, but if the temperature is above the dew point, it's evaporating faster than it condenses, so whatever gets "wet" stays dry. I'd suppose the same goes for individual molecules too.

I think you are more likely to have the impurity (if it is volatile) evaporate along with the water, rather than it being carried by the water molecules.

Hydrogen bonds are not that strong, and are unlikely to hold anything when only a single water molecule is involved (especially an extremely agitated water molecule). I don't know for sure though, but that's my guess.

Ignoring the quantum effects for a bit, some water molecules would be moving slowly from random chance, same for the impurity, and even if they were moving high speed in the same direction they could "kiss" gently and cling for the few nanoseconds it took to collide with something else.

By this argument the impurity would preferentially stay with the water, rather than the vapor itself: water is both cooler, and denser.

So I misunderstood the original question? He's asking if water vapor rising from liquid water will take impurities with it? I'd doubt it unless it was boiling (tossing all the molecules up in bubbles).

No, but as SiegeLord said, it's more likely for the other molecules to be evaporated along with the water - especially if the water is boiling.

Since he mentioned minerals, I assumed he meant impurities that are solid. Alcohol distillation doesn't get rid of all the water (max. 90% alcohol, 100% alcohol has that last 10% water removed by treating chemically)

If you aren't talking strictly boiled water vapor, it's usually the other way around in the atmosphere. Many very tiny water droplets can stick to a pollution particle - Is surface tension a part of this/ applicable to your question? - (and reflect a significant amount of light in doing so).

<quote>Can water vapor (or other gases) carry dirt?<\quote>
No but it dose attract it. when warter vapor is mixes dust it clumps to gether making water droplet that falls from the vapor when it if to heavy to maintain its flight

You seem to be a bit confused to the difference between atoms, molecules and particulates...

This made me think of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_chromatography is that what you were talking about or am I completely off the mark?

Having no source at all I've heard of small fish and frogs being swept up and raining down--maybe they went up in evap. But that would be extremely uncomforatble. I might be talking about waterspouts, which would be worse

I'm not really looking for a specific answer, just general ideas on the subject (and related). So gnolam, both are suitable questions to be answered.

I'm just thinking that if water boiled away, or evaporated away, would the polar bonds still be strong enough to hold on to other things like traces of salt or something else?

Also, are the instances of evaporation vs boil significant enough to make a difference? (We all know salt stays behind with a boil, but does it all? can it rain salt water? And if it evaporates "naturally", will it take more or less salt with it?)

No, it won't take the salt with it. Pure salt (that's not treated like Mortons "When it rains it pours" salt) will get damp and clumpy given enough humidity due to water molecules adhering and becoming absorbed.

ahhh i think i see what your getting at .

can the gas form of water bond with other substances and still remain in its gasies state.

and i think the asnsewr is yes!

the desiding factors are the weight of the 2nd substance.

and all so the "stickyness" example the amount of water molucules that can be joined per substance molucule if the sub

if the ratio is to high the gas will into water state

edit: what are your reserching sounds like your trying to make a holo room like on start track

I'd love to hear the reasoning behind this deduction.

Anyways to comment on the actual question I wouldn't think H2O could "carry" anything with it as a gas--I've never heard of cohesive gases, and even in liquid form the bonds are very fragile. I don't see how boiling would make the water "carry" anything. At least not individual particles. Maybe the force beneath [the solids] would fling them into the air, but I don't know how/if it would actually carry them.

Cars on the coastlines get eaten up with salt even though they're never actually driven into the ocean.

Not all of the salt stays behind because some of it turns into chlorine gas and is lost that way.

It can't rain salt water

But the wave action can throw tiny salt water particles into the air, and the minuscule specks of salt left over after the water evaporates are carried inland on the wind, to be deposited miles away.

I was gonna say the same thing--but it sounded like your first statement was to say "yeah it can" but then you said it's "pushed" up and carried via wind instead of actual water particles.

In the original boiling water scenario, it would depend how close to the surface of the water you took your air sample. Same thing on a smaller scale.

Gas can't carry particles. It's ridiculous to say that. Gas is not like liquid where the molecules can be said to act together (capillar force etc). It's kind of semantics, of course. But think of a free H₂O molecule. If something would attach to it and fly away, it would have to be something much smaller than the H₂O molecule so that it would be meaningful to talk about the H₂O molecule carrying something. NaCl is not a molecule like H₂O. NaCl is solved in water, which frees it into Na and Cl ions. But the water needs to be liquid, like visible fog. Unsolved NaCl is just salt crystals, which is more like:
...NaClNaClNaClNaClNaCl...
...ClNaClNaClNaClNaClNa...
...NaClNaClNaClNaClNaCl...
...ClNaClNaClNaClNaClNa...
...NaClNaClNaClNaClNaCl...
...ClNaClNaClNaClNaClNa...
...without any distinctive molecules.

I guess what happens with the salt eating the cars is that the waves breaking against rocks form a water spray of anything between drops and microscopic liquid water "particles". The smaller the particles are, the quicker they vaporize in the air. But each drop holds their amount of salt. And when the liquid drops vaporizes in the air, the salt crystallizes to microscopic salt particles, or salt dust. Which surely is carried with the wind.

Have you ever poured water on an oil fire in a pot?

Hint: It's awesome. Also, don't do it because you'll die.

I think that considering your first reasoning, you must realise that those very strong polar bonds you're counting on, have already been "broken by the heat".

Note: I said the 2nd substance is what is going the carrying. there is a diffrence

water dose not carry but it dose gett carryed

If other atoms are bound to the H₂O then it's no longer technically water. I never took chemistry beyond grade 11 or so^[1], but IIRC most things that are mixed with water don't bond to the water. When the water evaporates, there is no chemical bond between the water and whatever alien substance it's mixed with.

So I guess either: the alien substance bonds to the water molecules, forming a new molecule that isn't technically water, or it doesn't and isn't carried by the water. The answer seems to be no.

I would not risk money on my understanding of chemistry, however.

When you get out of the shower, do you have to dry off the water that is not water? It's "bound" to you, right?

Like I said, I would not risk money on my understanding of chemistry. She was in my grade 11 chemistry class so I payed most of my attention to the other side of the room^[1].

I can put gas and particles in my car, and drive. That isn't carrying particles?

Haha that statement genuinely confused me for a sec. I just woke up though.

Came to think of it. Salt sucks humidity into it. Or how do you phrase it? The thing with sea water spraying from braking waves. If the water is very salty, like sea water is, the salt might prevent the water from vaporizing, so I guess the water vapor kind of carries the salt (dirt) by not vaporizing completely due to the lose bound between salt ions and liquid water molecules.

I'd think the salt would slow evaporation by reducing the number of water molecules at the surface.

Well, the salt and the water stick together. That's what osmosis is about. And in Finland we put salt on dirt roads at summer time. The salt sucks water from the air and keeps the dirtt wet, preventing it from dusting. That's CaCl, not NaCl.

Just plain water has quite an attraction for itself if bugs can walk around on the surface tension.