Question

When water vapor rises into the atmosphere and begins to condense, it releases ________, the energy of a thunderstorm.

Answer 1

Answer:

A is the correct answer

Answer 2

The answer is latent heat. The specific latent heat of vaporisation, L_v, of a substance is the energy input required for each kilogram to be converted from liquid to gas by evaporation. The 'specific' means per kilogram, so more generally latent heat of vaporisation is the energy taken in during the process for a given mass.

Here we are not vaporising the substance. We are in fact condensing it, the reverse process. All this means is the latent heat is released as electrostatic potential decreases in the water, as opposed to being absorbed. I hope this helps you :)