Science

Water Can Be Evaporated Using Light

Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found that heat does not necessarily need to be used for evaporation. You can evaporate water using light, and even more efficiently than using heat.

Basic experiments have shown that the cause of intense evaporation of water may be light, and not the heat (energy) it transfers. In this case, water is transparent to visible light, which contradicts the observed result. To test the hypothesis, the scientists placed a sample of the hydrogel in a container on a scale and sequentially irradiated it with light of different wavelengths, during which they measured the amount of mass it lost over time due to evaporation. The sample was carefully isolated from equipment and lamps to prevent transfer of thermal energy to the water.

Measurements showed that water actually evaporated at a rate significantly exceeding the permissible thermal limit. The rate of evaporation also depended on the wavelength of the light, reaching a maximum at the wavelength corresponding to green light. This color dependence further confirms that the rate of evaporation is not related to heat transfer.

The scientists who proved the effect received a grant for further research of the phenomenon.

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