how do puddles evaporate/dry up on cold days?
In: Chemistry
A puddle of water has an average temperature. But that is just average. Some molecules are much hotter and some are much colder – heat and cold being a measure of how fast the molecules are moving.
In any blob of water, some molecules of water are evaporating into the air at any time. And some water in the air is condensing into the blob of water.
If the air is at 100% humidity, the water evaporating and condensing is balanced.
If the air is not at 100% humidity, more water is evaporating than condensing. So the water will eventually all evaporate. It just takes longer if the water is cold on average than if it is hot on average.
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