How Does Water Evaporate? | PLUM LANDING on PBS KIDS?

Water turns into vapor when it gets warm enough to rise up and become gas.

Imagine you're sitting on a sunny beach, and your water bottle is in the sand. The sun shines down, and slowly, the water inside starts to feel warmer. Just like how you feel warm when the sun touches your skin, the water feels warm too. When it gets really warm, some of the water doesn’t stay liquid anymore, it turns into invisible steam, which we can’t see but we can feel if it’s near our face.

When the water becomes steam, it goes up into the air like bubbles escaping from a soda bottle. The more heat the water gets, the faster these invisible bubbles rise and travel away, just like when you blow out birthday candles and see your breath in the cold air.

Sometimes, this vapor can meet cooler air high above, and then it turns back into drops of water, which we call clouds or rain. So even though the water isn’t there anymore, it's still around, just changing shape like a chameleon!