vaporize

Vaporize is the act of converting a substance from a liquid or a solid into a gaseous state. In common usage, vaporization refers to a liquid turning into vapor, while solids may sublimate directly to gas. The process requires energy input and, for liquids, is governed by vapor pressure and temperature.

Two main mechanisms describe vaporization in liquids: evaporation and boiling. Evaporation occurs at the surface at any temperature and is driven by molecules acquiring enough energy to escape into the gas phase. Boiling occurs when the liquid’s vapor pressure equals the surrounding pressure, producing vapor bubbles within the liquid; the temperature at which this happens is the boiling point and is pressure-dependent.

Vaporization can also occur for solids through sublimation, where a solid transitions directly to gas, as seen with dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) at room temperature and pressure.

Energy requirements are captured by the latent heat of vaporization, the amount of energy needed to convert a unit mass to gas at the boiling point. The phenomenon underpins many techniques such as distillation, drying, spray drying, atomization, and vapor deposition, and it also has safety implications due to volatile and potentially flammable vapors.