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evaporation
Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics
Images & 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.
The video thumbnail image shows mist rising from a body of water in front of a hill.
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.
Which came first—the rain or the rainforest?
Quizzes
water glass on white background. (drink; clear; clean water; liquid)
Water and its Varying Forms

evaporation: References & Edit History

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

  • The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
    Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.

Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors

Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Modified link of Web site: Chemistry LibreTexts - Evaporation and Condensation. Nov 03, 2026
Add new Web site: PNAS - Evaporation rate of water in hydrophobic confinement. Jul 17, 2026
Add new Web site: DigitalCommons at CalPoly - Evaporation Research: Review and Interpretation. Sep 06, 2025
Add new Web site: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Evaporation Rate of Water as a Function of a Magnetic Field and Field Gradient. Jun 15, 2025
Add new Web site: University of Arizona - Environmental Geology - Controls on Evaporation and Transpiration. Apr 30, 2025
Add new Web site: Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT News - Experiments reveal the physics of evaporation. Feb 07, 2025
Add new Web site: Nature - Nature Communications - Potential for natural evaporation as a reliable renewable energy resource. Dec 26, 2024
Add new Web site: Lenntech - Evaporation. Aug 26, 2024
Add new Web site: SERC - InTeGrate - Evaporation and Climate. Jul 01, 2024
Add new Web site: Academia - Evaporation. Oct 24, 2023
Add new Web site: Chemistry LibreTexts - Evaporation and Condensation. Oct 15, 2022
Add new Web site: BBC - Bitesize - Evaporation. May 07, 2022
Article revised and updated. Nov 23, 2021
Corrected display issue. Dec 04, 2019
Add new Web site: Chemistry LibreTexts - Evaporation and Condensation. Mar 28, 2019
Add new Web site: USGS Water Science School - Evaporation and the Water Cycle. Sep 20, 2016
Add new Web site: National Geographic - Evaporation. Sep 20, 2016
Added a video describing the process of evaporation. Dec 17, 2012
Add new Web site: Rader's Chem4Kids! - Evaporation of Liquids. Aug 19, 2011
Add new Web site: KidsGeo.com - Evaporation. Aug 19, 2011
New article added. Mar 25, 2009
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