evaporation: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Photos and Videos

Large metal tank labeled nitrogen refrigerated liquid, partially obscured by white vapor, with a gloved hand adjusting a valve at the top.

Diagram of the water cycle showing processes like evaporation, condensation, precipitation, transpiration, infiltration, and groundwater flow between land, vegetation, surface water, and the ocean, with labeled arrows and color-coded soil moisture and groundwater zones.

Diagram showing the phase changes of matter with three circles labeled solid, liquid, and gas. Arrows indicate transitions: melting and freezing between solid and liquid, evaporation and condensation between liquid and gas, and sublimation and deposition between solid and gas.

Global distribution of mean annual evaporation (in centimetres).

A line graph shows how precipitation and evaporation vary by latitude, with peaks in precipitation near the equator and poles, and peaks in evaporation around 30 degrees north and south. Wind belts such as polar easterlies, westerlies, and trade winds are labeled across the top, illustrating their relationship to these patterns.

The video thumbnail image shows mist rising from a body of water in front of a hill.

Which came first—the rain or the rainforest?

See All Videos and Images →

Topics

What causes a drought?vaporization water vapor phase change distillation Condensation melting sublimation latent heat phase diagram phase rule

water glass on white background. (drink; clear; clean water; liquid)

Water and its Varying Forms