What is Evaporation?

Have you ever noticed how puddles on the street disappear after a sunny day? That magic trick is actually a process called evaporation.

Simply put, evaporation happens when liquid water turns into an invisible gas or water vapor. This happens because water particles absorb heat energy—usually from the sun—which gives them the push they need to break free from the liquid and float up into the air.

You can see this happening all around you. When wet clothes dry on a clothesline, when a glass of water slowly gets emptier over a few days, or when puddles vanish under warm sunlight, evaporation is hard at work. It is also a super important part of the Earth's water cycle, helping to send moisture back up into the sky to form clouds and eventually bring rain back down to us.

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