Evaporation

 Evaporation is a change in state of a liquid to a gas that can happen at any temperature from the
surface of a liquid.

 The molecules in a liquid have a range of different energies:

Some have lots of energy, others have very little.
 Evaporation occurs when more energetic molecules near the surface of the liquid have enough
energy to escape.

Evaporation occurs when more energetic molecules near the surface of a liquid escape

 When this happens energy is lost from the liquid:

o The average energy of the remaining molecules decreases.
o This means that the temperature of the remaining liquid will also decrease.

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Factors Affecting Evaporation
 A number of factors affect the rate of evaporation:
o The temperature of the liquid – At higher temperatures, more molecules have enough
energy to escape.
o The surface area of the liquid – If the liquid has a greater surface area there will be more
area from which the molecules can escape.
o The movement of air across the surface of the liquid – The presence of a draft can help to
remove less energetic molecules (which might not have quite enough energy to escape) from
the liquid.

 The process of evaporation can be used to cool things down:

o If an object is in contact with an evaporating liquid, as the liquid cools the solid will cool as
well.
o This process is used in refrigerators and air conditioning units.