thanks you!! best answer 10 points xx keep it simple and short
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Water evaporates when the molecules at the surface have enough energy to "escape" from the surface.
There are many variables that determine the speed of evaporation - for oceans, the primary variable is solar heating providing the energy.
There are many variables that determine the speed of evaporation - for oceans, the primary variable is solar heating providing the energy.
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Not just sea water, but all water evaporates.
Water evaporates because individual H20 molecules "boil." If water is measured to be 72 degrees, some molecules can be much hotter than 72, and others can be much cooler than 72 - what it means is the AVERAGE of all of them is 72 degrees.
So some of those crazy molecules will get far enough away from the average that they'll hit 212 degrees and boil (basically, those molecules are moving so fast that the water can't hold them back from leaving the surface).
The only difference with sea water is that because the salt also attracts water molecules, it has a slightly higher boiling temperature (so maybe 215 or 220 or so). This means that fewer molecules will be moving fast enough to escape the surface than freshwater, because salt is kind of an added force trying to keep everything together.
Water evaporates because individual H20 molecules "boil." If water is measured to be 72 degrees, some molecules can be much hotter than 72, and others can be much cooler than 72 - what it means is the AVERAGE of all of them is 72 degrees.
So some of those crazy molecules will get far enough away from the average that they'll hit 212 degrees and boil (basically, those molecules are moving so fast that the water can't hold them back from leaving the surface).
The only difference with sea water is that because the salt also attracts water molecules, it has a slightly higher boiling temperature (so maybe 215 or 220 or so). This means that fewer molecules will be moving fast enough to escape the surface than freshwater, because salt is kind of an added force trying to keep everything together.
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Short answer: Heat from the Sun.