Question

Which best explains the relationship between evaporation and temperature?

A. Evaporation increases with higher temperatures due to increased kinetic energy of molecules.
B. Evaporation decreases with higher temperatures as molecules have less energy to change state.
C. Evaporation is not influenced by temperature changes.
D. Evaporation is inversely proportional to temperature, leading to decreased evaporation with higher temperatures.

Answer 1

Heating a liquid increases the fraction of molecules with sufficient kinetic energy to escape its surface, leading to faster evaporation. The figure below demonstrates how higher temperatures correspond to a larger number of molecules with the necessary kinetic energy to evaporate.

Step-by-step explanation:

A given liquid will evaporate more quickly when it is heated. This is because the heating process results in a greater fraction of the liquid's molecules having the necessary kinetic energy to escape the surface of the liquid. The figure below illustrates the kinetic energy distribution of liquid molecules at different temperatures, showing that higher temperatures result in more molecules with the required kinetic energy to evaporate.