Simulation of water vapor clusters in equilibrium with liquid water Original Research Article

The equilibrium between water vapor and liquid was studied using Gibbs ensemble simulations between 350 and 540 K. In this study we concentrate on the structure in the vapor phase, especially the clustering of the water molecules. At the lower temperatures most vapor molecules were present as monomers and most “clusters” were dimers. At higher temperatures a larger fraction of the vapor molecules formed part of large clusters. The fraction of closed clusters of a given size decreased in favor of open chains with increasing temperatures.