My chemistry teacher once explained it to me like below. Does anyone know how much truth there is to this explanation?
Temperature as measured by a thermometer or your finger is an average. Not every single molecule has the same temperature. The molecules constantly bounce around, smashing into each other, transferring heat to each other. By chance, some molecules will get hit in just the right way by other molecules to reach a very high temperature and then it evaporates. So there is constantly a gradient of temperatures among the molecules and the ones with the highest temperature are the ones evaporating, until there is no liquid left at all.
As the average temperature increases, the chance of some molecules reaching a high enough temperature also increases, so warm water evaporates faster than cold water.
This also explains why evaporation cools down (like when you sweat): the molecules with the highest temperature are the ones evaporating, so the average temperature decreases as those high-temperature molecules leave the system. Only the relatively colder molecules are left behind - thus it cools as a whole.
There’s a bit more to it, but it’s because of this effect.
There is actually a balance between liquid and gas state, just overwhelmingly in favor of liquid when at normal temperatures. There is a ratio of molecules that will hit each other and transition to gas, and an equal amount gas hitting liquid and condensing. At least when there is a balance between the two sides, aka 100% moisture in the air. Which is not how it is most places.
Normally there is always evaporated water in the air, and anything that evaporated will be moved away in any mildy ventilated area, as you say, it leaves the system. So it never reaches a balance, which is why things dry up at lower temps as water will always evaporate and leave the system.
I think it’s much easier and truthful to stop talking about temperature and introduce speed in that context.
The average speed is what we percieve as temperature, but single molecules can be fast, so fast as to break the boundaries of the liquid pool and shoot up toward space.
Single unbounded molecules are what gas is.
But temperature is not just the speed of a molecule right? Isn’t it also like the “energy” stored in the molecule, or its “wiggling” or something? Like a molecule moving very fast through space can still be at a very low temperature, right?
But temperature is not just the speed of a molecule right?
It pretty much is.
Like a molecule moving very fast through space can still be at a very low temperature, right?
That very much depends on the relative speed of the molecule and you. If you’re not moving in relation to the molecule, a collision between you and it won’t do much. Now try being hit by it (or a bunch of them) at high or even relativistic speeds. The area of you that’s hit will surely become pretty hot then.
Like, have you seen footage of asteroid impacts? Have you seen shooting stars? Those are hot. Like, non-figuratively.
Wait it’s all models? Alwasy has been.
It’s kinetic energy, temperature itself is not a real thing, you are dealing with the bonds that keep water molecules together, if you wiggle hard enought, with enough energy (so… fast enough?) you break free.
I guess another way to look at it is the cloud of elecrons getting more and more messy, so that it destabilizes the bonds…
Anon doesn’t realise that his mum cleared it up. Bet they think there’s fridge fairies as well!
I used to have this magic basket. I would put dirty clothes in, and later those clothes would turn up clean
The water thought you were so stupid, it left.
Only scientifically correct answer :D
The reason being that at any temperature where a liquid can be a gas (over zero degrees Celsius at standard pressure) some of that liquid will become gas.
Over time all of the liquid will become gas
Each individual molecule did reach an excited state and entered the air, as the air molecules themselves are already highly excited. Also, if the air already has enough moisture then the moisture molecules in the air can accumulate on surfaces that are cold enough that they lose their excited state energy, and a puddle could remain even in warm temperatures because as water leaves the puddle more can also accumulate there.
Also diffusion and vapor pressure and latent heat - reality is messy
Someone needs to clean up this fucking sim, the rules make no sense
Spaghetti code, unfortunately. Apt, given we boil salted water to cook spaghetti.
This game has far too many mechanics. The dev team should prune it back to the essentials and focus on polish rather than getting over ambitious and not executing anything well
>go into grocery store
>find both sexy and repulsive peopleWhat the hell, since when have people been ahomogenous?
ahomogenous
You mean heterogeneous, lol.
Apologies, I meant to write “contrahomogenous”
Hey, who are you calling gay‽
Some genius
OP took the bait.
