What is the process by which water changes from liquid to a gas?

What is the process by which water changes from liquid to a gas?

• A. Evaporation
• B. Condensation
• C. Precipitation
• D. Sublimation

Answer: (A)

Water becomes gas through evaporation. This happens when molecules at the surface gain enough energy to break free from the liquid and escape into the air as water vapor. Evaporation can occur at any temperature, not just when water boils, and it’s driven by factors like heat, lower humidity, and air movement that move the vapor away from the surface. Boiling is a different process where the liquid rapidly turns to gas throughout the body of the liquid at a specific temperature, whereas evaporation is a slower, surface-only transition. The other processes involve different transitions: condensation is gas turning into liquid, precipitation is water in the atmosphere falling to Earth, and sublimation is solid turning directly into gas.

Water becomes gas through evaporation. This happens when molecules at the surface gain enough energy to break free from the liquid and escape into the air as water vapor. Evaporation can occur at any temperature, not just when water boils, and it’s driven by factors like heat, lower humidity, and air movement that move the vapor away from the surface. Boiling is a different process where the liquid rapidly turns to gas throughout the body of the liquid at a specific temperature, whereas evaporation is a slower, surface-only transition. The other processes involve different transitions: condensation is gas turning into liquid, precipitation is water in the atmosphere falling to Earth, and sublimation is solid turning directly into gas.