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How does evaporation differ from boiling?
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liquid
Figure 1: Phase diagram of argon.
While both evaporation and boiling are forms of vaporization—the transition of a substance from a liquid to a gaseous state—they differ primarily in temperature and the physical location where the phase change occurs.12
- Evaporation occurs at temperatures below the boiling point. It is a surface phenomenon where individual molecules with sufficient kinetic energy escape from the surface of the liquid into the surrounding air.2
- Boiling occurs when a liquid reaches its boiling point, the temperature at which the liquid's vapour pressure equals the pressure exerted by the surrounding environment. Unlike evaporation, boiling is characterized by the formation of vapour bubbles within the bulk of the liquid, which then rise to the surface.341
Essentially, while evaporation happens gradually at the surface, boiling is a more rapid process that involves the entire volume of the liquid once the necessary thermal conditions are met.24