Condensation - wikipedia Condensation For other uses, see Condensation ( disambiguation ). Condensation forming in the low pressure zone above the wing of an aircraft due to adiabatic expansion Condensation is the change of the physical state of matter from gas phase into liquid phase, and is the reverse of vapourisation. The word most often refers to the water cycle. It can also be defined as the change in the state of water vapour to liquid water when in contact with a liquid or solid surface or cloud condensation nuclei within the atmosphere. When the transition happens from the gaseous phase into the solid phase directly, the change is called deposition. Contents 1 Initiation 2 Reversibility scenarios 3 Most common scenarios 4 How condensation is measured 5 Applications of condensation 6 Biological adaptation 7 Condensation in building construction 8 See also 9 References Initiation Condensation is initiated by the formation of atomic / molecular clusters of that species within its gaseous volume -- like rain drop or snow flake formation within clouds -- or at the contact between such gaseous phase and a liquid or solid surface. Reversibility scenarios A few distinct reversibility scenarios emerge here with respect to the nature of the surface. absorption into the surface of a liquid ( either of the same substance or one of its solvents ) -- is reversible as evaporation. adsorption ( as dew droplets ) onto solid surface at pressures and temperatures higher than the species ' triple point -- also reversible as evaporation. adsorption onto solid surface ( as supplemental layers of solid ) at pressures and temperatures lower than the species ' triple point -- is reversible as sublimation. Most common scenarios Condensation commonly occurs when a vapor is cooled and / or compressed to its saturation limit when the molecular density in the gas phase reaches its maximal threshold. Vapor cooling and compressing equipment that collects condensed liquids is called a `` condenser ''. How condensation is measured Psychrometry measures the rates of condensation through evaporation into the air moisture at various atmospheric pressures and temperatures. Water is the product of its vapor condensation -- condensation is the process of such phase conversion. Applications of condensation In cloud chambers a liquid ( sometimes water, but usually isopropanol ) condenses upon contact with a particle of radiation thus producing an effect similar to contrails Condensation is a crucial component of distillation, an important laboratory and industrial chemistry application. Because condensation is a naturally occurring phenomenon, it can often be used to generate water in large quantities for human use. Many structures are made solely for the purpose of collecting water from condensation, such as air wells and fog fences. Such systems can often be used to retain soil moisture in areas where active desertification is occurring -- so much so that some organizations educate people living in affected areas about water condensers to help them deal effectively with the situation. It is also a crucial process in forming particle tracks in a cloud chamber. In this case, ions produced by an incident particle act as nucleation centers for the condensation of the vapor producing the visible `` cloud '' trails. Furthermore, condensation is a critical step in many industrial processes, such as power generation, water desalination, thermal management, refrigeration, and air conditioning. Biological adaptation Numerous living beings use water made accessible by condensation. A few examples of these are the Australian thorny devil, the darkling beetles of the Namibian coast, and the coast redwoods of the West Coast of the United States. Condensation in building construction Condensation on a window during a rain shower. Condensation in building construction is an unwanted phenomenon as it may cause dampness, mold health issues, wood rot, corrosion, weakening of mortar and masonry walls, and energy penalties due to increased heat transfer. To alleviate these issues, the indoor air humidity needs to be lowered, or air ventilation in the building needs to be improved. This can be done in a number of ways, for example opening windows, turning on extractor fans, using dehumidifiers, drying clothes outside and covering pots and pans whilst cooking. Air conditioning or ventilation systems can be installed that help remove moisture from the air, and move air throughout a building. The amount of water vapour that can be stored in the air can be increased simply by increasing the temperature. However, this can be a double edged sword as most condensation in the home occurs when warm, moisture heavy air comes into contact with a cool surface. As the air is cooled, it can no longer hold as much water vapour. This leads to deposition of water on the cool surface. This is very apparent when central heating is used in combination with single glazed windows in winter. Interstructure condensation may be caused by thermal bridges, insufficient or lacking insulation, damp proofing or insulated glazing. See also Air well ( condenser ) Bose -- Einstein condensate Cloud physics Condenser ( heat transfer ) DNA condensation Kelvin equation Phase diagram Phase transition Retrograde condensation Surface condenser Groasis Waterboxx Liquefaction of gases References ^ Jump up to : IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. ( the `` Gold Book '' ) ( 1997 ). Online corrected version : ( 2006 -- ) `` condensation in atmospheric chemistry ''. Jump up ^ FogQuest - Fog Collection / Water Harvesting Projects - Welcome Archived 2009 - 02 - 23 at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Warsinger, David M. ; Mistry, Karan H. ; Nayar, Kishor G. ; Chung, Hyung Won ; Lienhard V, John H. ( 2015 ). `` Entropy Generation of Desalination Powered by Variable Temperature Waste Heat ''. Entropy. pp. 7530 -- 7566. Bibcode : 2015Entrp... 17.7530 W. doi : 10.3390 / e17117530. Missing or empty url = ( help ) Jump up ^ White, F.M. ' Heat and Mass Transfer ' © 1988 Addison - Wesley Publishing Co. pp. 602 -- 604 Jump up ^ Q&A : Microchannel air - cooled condenser ; Heatcraft Worldwide Refrigeration ; April 2011 ; `` Archived copy '' ( PDF ). Archived ( PDF ) from the original on 2012 - 04 - 17. Retrieved 2013 - 02 - 20. Jump up ^ Enright, Ryan ( 23 Jul 2014 ). `` Dropwise Condensation on Micro - and Nanostructured Surfaces ''. Nanoscale and Microscale Thermophysical Engineering. 18 ( 3 ). doi : 10.1080 / 15567265.2013. 862889. ^ Jump up to : `` Condensation ''. Property Hive. Archived from the original on 2013 - 12 - 13. Jump up ^ `` Condensation around the house - what causes condensation ''. diydata.com. Archived from the original on 2008 - 01 - 13. Sources States of matter ( list ) State Baryonic matter Solid Liquid Gas / Vapor Plasma Low energy Bose -- Einstein condensate Fermionic condensate Degenerate matter Quantum Hall Rydberg matter Rydberg polaron Strange matter Superfluid Supersolid Photonic matter High energy QCD matter Lattice QCD Quark -- gluon plasma Color - glass condensate Supercritical fluid Other states Colloid Glass Crystal Liquid crystal Time crystal Quantum spin liquid Exotic matter Programmable matter Dark matter Antimatter Magnetically ordered Antiferromagnet Ferrimagnet Ferromagnet String - net liquid Superglass Transitions Boiling Boiling point Condensation Critical line Critical point Crystallization Deposition Evaporation Flash evaporation Freezing Chemical ionization Ionization Lambda point Melting Melting point Recombination Regelation Saturated fluid Sublimation Supercooling Triple point Vaporization Vitrification Quantities Enthalpy of fusion Enthalpy of sublimation Enthalpy of vaporization Latent heat Latent internal energy Trouton 's ratio Volatility Concepts Binodal Compressed fluid Cooling curve Equation of state Leidenfrost effect Macroscopic quantum phenomena Mpemba effect Order and disorder ( physics ) Spinodal Superconductivity Superheated vapor Superheating Thermo - dielectric effect Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Condensation&oldid=840250243 '' Categories : Phase transitions Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Pages using web citations with no URL Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans Asturianu Azərbaycanca Беларуская Български Bosanski Català Čeština ChiShona Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Galego 한국어 Հայերեն हिन्दी Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Қазақша Kreyòl ayisyen Кыргызча Latviešu Lietuvių Македонски മലയാളം Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Polski Português Română Русский Scots Shqip Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Tagalog தமிழ் ไทย Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt ייִדיש Žemaitėška 中文 53 more Edit links This page was last edited on 8 May 2018, at 17 : 51. 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Question: water droplets that condense from the air onto cool surfaces are called
Answer: Condensation