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evaporation
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evaporation hydrologic cycle
The video thumbnail image shows mist rising from a body of water in front of a hill.
phase change Global distribution of mean annual evaporation (in centimetres). Figure 3: Latitudinal variation in precipitation and evaporation and relationship to major wind belts and oceanic salinity.
Which came first—the rain or the rainforest?
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water glass on white background. (drink; clear; clean water; liquid)
Water and its Varying Forms
evaporation
evaporation Nitrogen's boiling point is –195.8 °C (–320.4 °F), and evaporation, which occurs during the boiling process, helps to cool the nitrogen that remains in its liquid state.

evaporation

phase change
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hydrologic cycle
hydrologic cycleThis diagram shows how, in the hydrologic cycle, water is transferred between the land surface, the ocean, and the atmosphere.

evaporation, process by which an element or compound transitions from its liquid state to its gaseous state below the temperature at which it boils; in particular, the process by which liquid water enters the atmosphere as water vapour in the water cycle.

The video thumbnail image shows mist rising from a body of water in front of a hill.
The journey of water: From evaporation to precipitationHow does water vapor enter Earth's atmosphere?
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Evaporation, mostly from the oceans and from vegetation, replenishes the humidity of the air. It is an important part of the exchange of energy in the Earth-atmosphere system that produces atmospheric motion and therefore weather and climate. This transfer of water between Earth’s surface and the atmosphere occurs when some molecules in a water mass have attained sufficient kinetic energy to eject themselves from the water surface. The main factors affecting evaporation are temperature (specifically, the temperature difference between the evaporating surface and the air), relative humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation. See also vaporization; transpiration.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty.