Editing Vaporization

{{Short description|Transition of a liquid to vapor}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2023}}
'''Vaporization''' (or vapo(u)risation) of an element or compound is a [[phase transition]] from the [[liquid]] phase to [[vapor]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/623152/vaporization|title=Vaporization|date=April 25, 2007|publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150516032616/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/623152/vaporization|archive-date=May 16, 2015}}</ref> There are two types of vaporization: [[evaporation]] and [[boiling]]. Evaporation is a [[surface phenomenon]], whereas boiling is a bulk phenomenon (a phenomenon in which the whole object or substance is involved in the process).

==Evaporation==
[[File:77855181 bromine624.jpg|alt=|thumb|300x300px|A [[laboratory flask]] filled with pure [[bromine]], a liquid that evaporates rapidly]]
Evaporation is a phase transition from the liquid phase to vapor (a state of  substance below [[critical temperature]]) that occurs at temperatures below the [[Boiling point|boiling temperature]] at a given pressure. Evaporation occurs ''on the surface''. Evaporation only occurs when the [[partial pressure]] of [[vapor]] of a substance is less than the [[Equilibrium Vapor Pressure|equilibrium vapor pressure]]. For example, due to constantly decreasing pressures, vapor pumped out of a solution will eventually leave behind a cryogenic liquid.

==Boiling==
Boiling is also a phase transition from the liquid phase to gas phase, but boiling is the formation of vapor as bubbles of vapor ''below the surface'' of the liquid. Boiling occurs when the equilibrium vapor pressure of the substance is greater than or equal to the [[atmospheric pressure]]. The temperature at which boiling occurs is the boiling temperature, or boiling point.  The boiling point varies with the pressure of the environment.

==Sublimation==
[[Sublimation (phase transition)|Sublimation]] is a direct phase transition from the solid phase to the gas phase, skipping the intermediate liquid phase.

==Other uses of the term 'vaporization'==
The term ''vaporization'' has also been used in a colloquial or hyperbolic way to refer to the physical destruction of an object that is exposed to intense heat or explosive force, where the object is actually blasted into small pieces rather than literally converted to gaseous form. Examples of this usage include the "vaporization" of the uninhabited [[Marshall Islands|Marshall Island]] of [[Elugelab]] in the 1952 ''[[Ivy Mike]]'' thermonuclear test.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/bomb-us-tests/#:~:text=%22Mike%22%20Test|publisher=PBS American Experience|title="Mike" Test|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819092422/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/peopleevents/pandeAMEX63.html|archive-date=August 19, 2016}}</ref> Many other examples can be found throughout the various [[MythBusters]] episodes that have involved explosives, chief among them being [[MythBusters (2005 season)#Cement_Mix-Up|Cement Mix-Up]], where they "vaporized" a cement truck with ANFO.<ref>{{Citation |title=Mythbusters Cement Truck Blow Up | date=30 April 2010 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IcHUHRf_S0 |language=en |access-date=2022-07-16 |archive-date=2022-07-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220716213125/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IcHUHRf_S0 |url-status=live }}</ref>

At the moment of a large enough [[meteor]] or [[comet]] impact, [[bolide]] detonation, a [[Nuclear weapon#Fission weapons|nuclear fission]], [[thermonuclear fusion]], or theoretical [[antimatter]] weapon detonation, a [[flux]] of so many [[gamma ray]], [[x-ray]], [[ultraviolet]], visual [[light]] and [[infrared|heat]] [[photon]]s strikes matter in a such brief amount of time (a great number of high-energy photons, many overlapping in the same physical space) that all molecules lose their atomic bonds ([[atomization]]) and "fly apart". All atoms lose their [[electron shell]]s and become positively charged ions ([[ionization]]), in turn emitting photons of a slightly lower energy than they had absorbed. All such matter becomes a gas of nuclei and electrons which rise into the air due to the extremely high temperature or bond to each other as they cool. The matter vaporized this way is immediately a [[Plasma (physics)|plasma]] in a state of maximum [[entropy]] and this state steadily reduces via the factor of passing [[time]] due to natural processes in the [[biosphere]] and the effects of [[physics]] at normal [[temperature]]s and [[pressure]]s.

A similar process occurs during ultrashort pulse [[laser ablation]], where the high [[flux]] of incoming [[electromagnetic radiation]] strips the target material's surface of electrons, leaving positively charged atoms which undergo a [[coulomb explosion]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.photonics.com/a40296|title=Picosecond Lasers for High-Quality Industrial Micromachining|last=GmbH|first=Dirk Müller, Lumera Laser|access-date=2018-02-19|archive-date=2018-02-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220033423/https://www.photonics.com/a40296|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Table==
{{Table of Phase Transitions}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Vaporization}}

{{States of matter}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Physical chemistry]]
[[Category:Chemical processes]]
[[Category:Phase transitions]]