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Question: What is the difference between physisorption and chemisorption?...

What is the difference between physisorption and chemisorption?

Explanation

Solution

We can relate physisorption and chemisorption as physical and chemical changes respectively. In physisorption there are physical changes in substances, same as in Chemisorption, there are chemical changes in a substance.

Complete step by step answer:
Adsorption happens when the substance is accumulated on a surface level. On the other hand, absorption happens when the substance is accumulated completely inside the bulk.
Now we will define physisorption and Chemisorption and their differences in a table given below.

PhysisorptionChemisorption
There is physical adsorption on the surface which is called physisorption.There is chemical adsorption on the surface which is called chemisorption
The adsorption, in this case, happens because the gas gets accumulated on the surface of the solid, by a weak van der Waal force of attraction.The adsorption, in this case, happens because there is a formation of a chemical bond between the adsorbent and adsorbate.
It is not specific because the gas which is adsorbed is not specified.It is highly specific because only those substances can involve chemisorption which can bond chemically with each other.
It involves a low enthalpy of adsorption.It involves a high end. Help you off adsorption.
It is a reversible change.It is an irreversible change.
Physisorption can be converted into chemisorption by applying high pressure.Chemisorption cannot be converted into physisorption by providing any external factors.
Physisorption is inversely dependent on temperature.Chemisorption is directly dependent on temperature.
It results in adsorption of the unimolecular layer.It results in adsorption of the multimolecular layer.

Note:
You need to understand the difference between adsorption and absorption. Adsorption is completely a surface phenomenon where the adsorbent is adsorbed only on the surface of the adsorbate, whereas in absorption the absorbent is absorbed in the bulk in the absorbate.