Final answer:
Water has a high heat capacity and a high heat of vaporization, requiring substantial heat to transition from liquid to gas. This allows water to absorb and release heat gradually, influencing weather and temperature and enabling processes like boiling and evaporation.
Step-by-step explanation:
Water's ability to absorb a large amount of heat before changing state is due to its high heat capacity and high heat of vaporization. When water is heated, hydrogen bonds among the water molecules make it difficult for them to separate and enter the gaseous phase (steam).
Therefore, a considerable amount of heat energy is necessary, particularly 586 calories per gram, to transition from liquid to gas. This property is crucial for processes such as boiling and evaporation, as it requires water to gain significant energy before it can change to a gas.
At its boiling point of 100° Celsius (212° Fahrenheit), water's hydrogen bonds are broken by the absorbed heat, allowing water molecules to escape as steam. Below the boiling point, evaporation can still occur on the water's surface when individual molecules gain enough energy to vaporize. Due to these properties, water acts as a heat reservoir, influencing weather patterns and the environmental temperature by absorbing and releasing heat gradually.