Why does water vaporazing from a surface cools it?

Question

I’ve read that when someone is having a heat stroke just making them wet isn’t enough, you have to ventilate them so the water vaporazes, cooling them. But why does water vaporizing cools something?

In: 1

Answer 1

When water vaporizes from a surface, it absorbs heat from that surface in order to undergo the change from a liquid to a gas. This transfer of heat from the surface to the water molecules causes the surface to cool.

This process is known as evaporative cooling, and it is the same principle that allows your body to cool down when you sweat. As the sweat on your skin evaporates, it absorbs heat from your body, causing you to feel cooler.