What is Evaporation and Condensation? 10+ Facts About Evaporation and Condensation For Kids

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Nature is the laboratory of all the scientific incidents that surround our life and living. The diverse processes of nature also determine how the environment in which we live will be. So it becomes absolutely necessary for us, and especially for our younger generation to learn more about these vital natural phenomena that affect our day-to-day lives.

Two of the most important such processes are evaporation and condensation. This article will define these two processes (evaporation and condensation) and talk about some exciting instances of each of them. It will thus help your kids to have a better idea about evaporation and condensation.

Evaporation

The process which converts water from liquid state to gas or vapor is called evaporation. The water, when heated, turns into gas or vapor. The process of evaporation continually takes place in nature. Through evaporation, around 90 percent of moisture enters into the atmosphere. Sun and wind are the major contributors in evaporation.

Condensation

Condensation is just the opposite of evaporation. When water is transformed from its gaseous state to a liquid state, it is called condensation. Thus, when water vapor becomes liquid water, it is condensation. Even more, when water changes its liquid form to a solid form to become a block of ice, it is also a result of the condensation process. 

Understanding The Water Cycle

Before letting you know about different fascinating facts about these two processes, it is utmost significant to tell you about the most crucial work these two processes do to keep us alive and kicking and the environment functioning.

Evaporation and condensation both are natural phenomena, and together they create the water cycle. Let us first understand the water cycle. The heat from the sun rays turns the water from the river, ocean, lakes and all other water bodies in nature to water vapor. The water vapor, which is in gaseous form rises in the atmosphere. But the temperature in the atmosphere is low.

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The cold temperature converts these water vapors into drops of water through the process of condensation. The water drops accumulate to form clouds and ultimately falls back on earth in the form of rain. Thus, water completes a full cycle. The water cycle is the source of life and living creatures on the earth. Therefore, we should make every effort to keep this process going so that life on earth continues to sustain.

10+ Interesting Facts About Evaporation For Kids

Fact 1: Evaporation is the primary source of humidity or moisture in the air. Humidity is essential for plants and vegetation to grow and sustain. 

Fact 2: Evaporation takes place rapidly at places which have high temperature and slowly at places which have low temperature.

Fact 3: Salt is made from saline seawater using the technique of evaporation. People have been using this method for thousands of years. 

Fact 4: In sweltering climates, people use this technique of evaporation to build coolers, which are sold in the names like swamp box, swamp cooler, wet air cooler, and desert cooler. 

Fact 5: Evaporation and boiling are not the same. Water evaporates when heated at any temperature. But boiling takes place when the heat reaches its boiling point that is 212° F, or 100° C.

Fact 6: Evaporation is a slow process, whereas boiling is a fast process. Evaporation can happen at any temperature, but for the water to boil, a specific temperature is needed. 

Fact 7: A striking difference between evaporation and boiling is that bubbles are formed during boiling and not during evaporation. 

Fact 8: It is not just water that evaporates. All liquids evaporate when heated. However, some liquids evaporate faster than others. The rate at which liquids evaporate is called evaporation rate. 

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Fact 9: Evaporation keeps the human body relaxed. As human body sweats, the tiny water droplets surface on the skin which gets evaporated in the contact of air and atmospheric heat. This cools down the body. 

Fact 10: Industries also use this technique to produce goods; mines use evaporation method to collect metals from ores. 

Fact 11: In our daily life, we use evaporation technique to get our washed clothes dry in the natural air and under the sun. 

Fact 12: Water is kept in earthen pots or matkas to keep them cold. The water in earthen pots cools down because water evaporates from the surface of the earthen pots. 

10+ Interesting Facts About Condensation For Kids

Fact 1: The temperature at which condensation happens is called the dew point. Dews are small particles of water that are formed when the water vapor comes in contact with the low temperature of the atmosphere and turns into the water again. 

Fact 2: The water droplets that we see when a chilled water bottle is left outside in room temperature are an outcome of the condensation process. 

Fact 3: It is because of the condensation process that clouds are formed.

Fact 4: When clouds get overburdened with water drops, they fall on earth as rains. 

Fact 5: Condensation lets the water fall on the ground not always as rain but as precipitation. This moistens the soil and helps the plants and trees get water quickly. The crops grow faster and better because of precipitation.

Fact 6: Precipitation also helps plants extract nutrients from the soil. The minerals present in the soil get dissolved in the water, and the plants can absorb them with their roots. 

Fact 7: It is due to condensation we get a steady supply of water from nature. In deserts, the water vapors condense at night when the temperature of the desert lowers to create dews. The collection of dews works as the source of water in those dry regions. 

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Fact 8: After the shower, the mirror in the bathroom becomes foggy. This is because the warmer water vapor in the air when touches the cooler surface of the mirror, it gets condensed and accumulates on the mirror surface. 

Fact 9: Another ingesting example of condensation almost everyone with specs experiences when they come out of an air-conditioned room or car into a place that has an outside temperature. Their glasses become foggy immediately. This happens as the water vapors in the atmosphere condense coming in contact with the cold lenses of the specs. 

Fact 10: The LPG we use in our kitchens is a condensed form of petroleum gas which is stored inside the cylinder in liquid form. 

Fact 11: Fire extinguishers contain liquid carbon dioxide which is stored in the condensed form under high pressure. 

Fact 12: In the cryogenic industry, liquid nitrogen gas is used. The gas turns liquid or condenses into a liquid form under high pressure. 

Conclusion

Evaporation and condensation act simultaneously to make nature work. They create climates and contribute to the formation of weather during summer and winter seasons. With keen observation, we can discover numerous examples of these two processes and learn how things work.

Humans have used these two natural processes to their advantages and have produced many industrial processes that are significant for producing goods that we use in our daily lives. We hope that the exciting examples mentioned in the article will make your kids aware of the functioning of these two phenomena better. Now it is up to your kids to discover new interesting cases taking inspiration from nature itself.

References:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/evaporation.htm

https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/evaporation-and-water-cycle?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/evaporation/

https://sciencing.com/rains-importance-life-earth-23021.html

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