Condensational

Condensational is an adjective relating to condensation, the phase change in which a substance moves from a gas to a liquid, typically as a result of cooling or increased pressure. Condensation often releases latent heat and reduces the vapor pressure of the substance, enabling droplets or films to form on surfaces or in a gas.

In meteorology, condensational processes drive cloud formation, fog, and dew. As air cools or rises and becomes saturated, water vapor condenses into cloud droplets. The latent heat released during condensation can affect atmospheric stability and drive convection, influencing weather patterns. Condensational growth also explains how dew forms on vegetation and how fog settles near the ground.

In engineering and physical chemistry, condensational phenomena are central to operations such as distillation, refrigeration, and heat exchange. Vapors are cooled to condense into liquids for separation, collection, or energy recovery. Controlling condensational processes is important for equipment efficiency, humidity management, and the reliability of condensers, boilers, and air-handling systems. The term can also describe reaction steps or mechanisms in which condensation leads to bonding and the buildup of larger molecules or particles, including aerosol growth by condensation.

In physics, condensational language sometimes appears in discussions of phase transitions that yield dense, collective states, such as condensates in quantum systems. While the core idea is condensation, the condensational framing emphasizes the conditions under which gas-phase constituents coalesce into a denser phase.

Related concepts include condensation, dew point, vapor pressure, and latent heat of condensation.