![]() Most of the moisture in the atmosphere (about 90%) came from water evaporating from oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers. Hey, I'm Drippy! Did you know that on a global scale, the amount of water evaporating is about the same as the amount of water precipitating? Evaporation drives the water cycle Condensation occurs when saturated air is cooled, such as on the outside of a glass of ice water. Condensationis the process of water vapor turning back into liquid water. The opposite of evaporation is condensation. Water easily evaporates at its boiling point (212° F, 100° C) but evaporates much more slowly at its freezing point because of the heat energy required to evaporate the water. This added heat breaks the bonds, causing the water to shift from its liquid state to its gaseous state (water vapor), which we know as steam. When you’re boiling water on the stove, you’re adding heat to liquid water. Water moves from the Earth’s surface to the atmosphere via evaporation.Įvaporation occurs when energy (heat) forces the bonds that hold water molecules together to break. Releasing hot water back into rivers would harm the ecology, so many power plants have tremendous cooling towers, where hot water is sprayed inside and evaporation is used to cool the release water before it goes back into the environment.Ĭredit: Alan Cressler, USGS What is evaporation and why does it occur?Įvaporation is the process that changes liquid water to gaseous water (water vapor). Facilities use water to cool the equipment, and then need to release the water back into the environment. The equipment at power-production facilities produces a lot of waste heat energy as a by-product. Cooling towers at a power-production facility. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |