Evaporative Cooling

Correct Answer: E. molecules absorb heat from the environment

When a liquid evaporates, it must have enough energy to break the intermolecular forces holding its particles together. To gain enough energy to do this, energy in the form of heat is absorbed from the surrounding environment. This is an endothermic process. If heat is absorbed from the environment, then the environment is left feeling cool as the liquid molecules begin to break their bonds/attractions and evaporate. It is true that in a solid the molecules remain in fixed locations and vibrate in place and liquid molecules slide across one another, however these do not explain the phenomenon of evaporative cooling.

Subscribe below to get the DAT Question of the Day delivered straight to your inbox every morning.