Question

What is evaporation? Describe what happens at the molecular level during evaporation.

Answer 1

 Evaporation happens when atoms or molecules escape from the liquid and turn into a vapor. Not all of the molecules in a liquid have the same energy. Sometimes a liquid can be sitting in one place (maybe a puddle) and its molecules will become a gas. That's the process called evaporation. It can happen when liquids are cold or when they are warm. It happens more often with warmer liquids. You probably remember that when matter has a higher temperature, the molecules have a higher energy. When the energy in specific molecules reaches a certain level, they can have a phase change. Evaporation is all about the energy in individual molecules, not about the average energy of a system. The average energy can be low and the evaporation still continues.