Relative Hygroscopicity

[FrugalRefiner]

Is there a table or chart available that puts hygroscopic materials in order according to their relative powers to absorb moisture? We know that many materials like silica gel, sodium hydroxide, and sulfuric acid will all absorb moisture from the air. But if I put an open container of silica gel and an open container of sodium hydroxide in a larger closed container, which one will draw moisture from the other? Will one dry the other completely (assuming it's not saturated), or will one just end up "dryer" and the other "moister"?

I've done a lot of Googling, but I can't find anything similar to the reactivity series of metals, where copper drops PMs, iron drops most everything else, etc. I'm not sure if I'm searching for the right terms because I don't know what property this would be. I'm not interested that one may absorb its own weight while another might absorb twice its weight. I'm looking for a way to know which substance will dry another.

Thanks for any help,
Dave

 

[Smack]

You'll want to look for Hydrophiles. Phile meaning fondness for.

 

[g_axelsson]

I think that you would end up with two systems in equilibrium with each other... I'm pretty sure of it actually. Just as chemical reactions have equilibrium points and that point can be manipulated by changing the different substances involved in the reaction.
In the same way can two drying agents affect each other. Concentration, air pressure, temperature... and so on can push the equilibrium point in any way.

This is actually a thing that is studied in physical chemistry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_chemistry

It was a long time ago I studied physical chemistry but I think that Gibbs free energy is a central point in calculating how different materials absorb water and affecting each other. http://www.chemguide.co.uk/physical/entropy/deltag.html

Göran

Edit : This thread was recreated as I had it in the browser history. Apparently some threads and posts might have been lost from some server changes made by the hosting company.