Question

Comment on the statement ‘Evaporation is a surface phenomenon’

Answer 1

Evaporation is the process by which water changes from a liquid to a gas or vapor. Evaporation is the primary pathway that water moves from the liquid state back into the water cycle as atmospheric water vapor.

Complete step by step answer:
Surface phenomenon is mainly the study of science of interfaces. The interfaces can be interfaces of solid, liquid and gases. Check the definitions and differences between the terms to get the correct answer. The process which occurs on the surface of the liquid only is a surface phenomenon.
Evaporation is a surface phenomenon because, during evaporation, the molecules with higher kinetic energy dissipate into the air from the topmost layer of the liquid so it is a surface phenomenon. When water is kept in the presence of sunlight, with the increasing duration of time, the temperature of the water increases and the hydrogen bonds of ${{H}_{2}}O$ from the surface starts breaking due to which the dissociated molecules move upward.
Surface phenomenon also comes under adsorption. This is actually the adhesion between the substances on the solids and liquids surfaces. Some examples are silica gel, gases get adsorbed on the surface of carbon and any metallic surface.
Therefore, evaporation takes place from the surface but not from the inside.

Note: Surface phenomena may be purely physical in nature, or they may be accompanied by chemical transformations; they occur at liquid (highly mobile) and solid interphase boundaries. Surface phenomena related to surface tension and resulting from the deformation liquid boundary surfaces are also called capillary phenomena.