Water vapor, water vapour or aqueous vapor is the gaseous phase of water.

It is one state of water

within the hydrosphere. Water vapor can be produced from the evaporation or boiling of liquid water or
from the sublimation of ice. Water vapor is transparent, like most constituents of the atmosphere.[4]
Under typical atmospheric conditions, water vapor is continuously generated by evaporation and
removed by condensation. It is less dense than most of the other constituents of air and triggers
convection currents that can lead to clouds.

Water vapor (H2O)

St Johns Fog.jpg

Invisible water vapor condenses to form

Visible clouds of liquid rain droplets

Liquid state

Water

Solid state

Ice

Being a component of Earth’s hydrosphere and hydrologic cycle, it is particularly abundant in Earth’s
atmosphere, where it acts as a greenhouse gas and warming feedback, contributing more to total
greenhouse effect than non-condensable gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. Use of water
vapor, as steam, has been important for cooking, and as a major component in energy production and
transport systems since the industrial revolution.

Water vapor is a relatively common atmospheric constituent, present even in the solar atmosphere as
well as every planet in the Solar System and many astronomical objects including natural satellites,
comets and even large asteroids. Likewise the detection of extrasolar water vapor would indicate a
similar distribution in other planetary systems. Water vapor is significant in that it can be indirect
evidence supporting the presence of extraterrestrial liquid water in the case of some planetary mass
objects.

Evaporation

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Whenever a water molecule leaves a surface and diffuses into a surrounding gas, it is said to have
evaporated. Each individual water molecule which transitions between a more associated (liquid) and a
less associated (vapor/gas) state does so through the absorption or release of kinetic energy. The
aggregate measurement of this kinetic energy transfer is defined as thermal energy and occurs only
when there is differential in the temperature of the water molecules. Liquid water that becomes water
vapor takes a parcel of heat with it, in a process called evaporative cooling.[5] The amount of water
vapor in the air determines how frequently molecules will return to the surface. When a net evaporation
occurs, the body of water will undergo a net cooling directly related to the loss of water.

In the US, the National Weather Service measures the actual rate of evaporation from a standardized
“pan” open water surface outdoors, at various locations nationwide. Others do likewise around the
world. The US data is collected and compiled into an annual evaporation map.[6] The measurements
range from under 30 to over 120 inches per year. Formulas can be used for calculating the rate of
evaporation from a water surface such as a swimming pool.[7][8] In some countries, the evaporation
rate far exceeds the precipitation rate.

Evaporative cooling is restricted by atmospheric conditions. Humidity is the amount of water vapor in
the air. The vapor content of air is measured with devices known as hygrometers. The measurements
are usually expressed as specific humidity or percent relative humidity. The temperatures of the
atmosphere and the water surface determine the equilibrium vapor pressure; 100% relative humidity
occurs when the partial pressure of water vapor is equal to the equilibrium vapor pressure. This
condition is often referred to as complete saturation. Humidity ranges from 0 grams per cubic metre in
dry air to 30 grams per cubic metre (0.03 ounce per cubic foot) when the vapor is saturated at 30 °C.[9]

Sublimation

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Sublimation is the process by which water molecules directly leave the surface of ice without first
becoming liquid water. Sublimation accounts for the slow mid-winter disappearance of ice and snow at
temperatures too low to cause melting. Antarctica shows this effect to a unique degree because it is by
far the continent with the lowest rate of precipitation on Earth. As a result, there are large areas where
millennial layers of snow have sublimed, leaving behind whatever non-volatile materials they had
contained. This is extremely valuable to certain scientific disciplines, a dramatic example being the
collection of meteorites that are left exposed in unparalleled numbers and excellent states of
preservation.

Sublimation is important in the preparation of certain classes of biological specimens for scanning
electron microscopy. Typically the specimens are prepared by cryofixation and freeze-fracture, after
which the broken surface is freeze-etched, being eroded by exposure to vacuum till it shows the
required level of detail. This technique can display protein molecules, organelle structures and lipid
bilayers with very low degrees of distortion.