Sublimation

[FearMyChewyWafflez]

I've already submitted this question to yahoo answers, but didn't get the answer i was looking for. The question was, "When something sublimates, does it actually skip the liquid state?" Most of the answers were something like, "No, sublimation means it skips the liquid state." I already know this from 8th grade chemistry, but it still doesn't make sense to me. So I'm going to rephrase the question for those willing to answer my question

 

When a solid melts, the spaces between the particles widen and turns into a liquid, right? And when a liquid evaporates, the space between the particles widens even more and turns into a gas, right? Sorry I;m stating the obvious and not getting to the point, but I'm getting there. So how can something skip the liquid state and go straight to a gas. In order for something to be 2 inches long, it has to be one inch long first. The only time that is would make sense if the particles teleport.

 

Please answer this. It's been bugging me. Hope I made you understand what I mean

[Abhay.K]

it is due to the chemical property of the substance that it sublimates......eg- dry ice ...there is nothing called liguid CO2 it changes its state from solid to directly gas(that is it sublimates)....this is similar with camphor.

[swansont]

It doesn't make much sense to call something a liquid of there are only a few molecules of it — it doesn't really behave as a liquid does (e.g. there isn't enough to conform to the shape of its container). What's happening is that the vapor pressure of the solid CO2 is relatively high (you only see a liquid if the system is under pressure, ~ 5ATM, IIRC). Systems with low vapor pressure can accumulate and be a liquid.