Volatility (physics)

Volatility in the context of chemistry, physics and thermodynamics is a measure of the tendency of a substance to vaporize.

Other definitions

It has also been defined as a measure of how readily a substance vaporizes. At a given temperature, substances with higher vapor pressures will vaporize more readily than substances with a lower vapor pressure.

Other substances

Although usually applying to liquids, volatility can apply to solid materials such as dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) and ammonium chloride, which can change directly from solid to vapor without becoming liquid. The direct transition of a solid to a vapor is called sublimation.