Why Does Water Spontaneously Evaporate At Room Temperature

Clearly water does evaporate at 212ºf but it also evaporates at room temperature.

Why does water spontaneously evaporate at room temperature. Let us make this clear evaporation isn t related to temperature boiling is. The surrounding gas must not be saturated with the evaporating substance. When the molecules of the liquid collide they transfer energy to each other based on how they collide with each other. Sunlight really doesn t have much to do with evaporation other then heat.

There are two explanations to this question. There is not a specific temperature that water must be in order for it to evaporate. When answering this question it s helpful to think of temperature as kinetic energy that is energy that is transferred. Its not really true that it has to be really hot for water to eveaprate.

Don t worry you don t have to live in a house that s a scalding 212ºf just for water to disappear on its own. Olive oil in contrast has a very low vapor pressure so it s not likely to evaporate much at room temperature source. When a lot of water vapor is in the air molecules will get bumped up against a surface and stick to it which is why condensation forms on the outside of a cold drink on a humid day. However as temperature rises evaporation typically increases because water molecules are moving more quickly.

Water evaporates anywhere that has some sunlight.