Water has a relatively large latent heat of vaporisation, providing a cooling effect with little loss of water through evaporation
When water evaporates, it carries away a large amount of heat energy. This cools organisms down without them losing much water.
Real World
When a marathon runner sweats during the London Marathon, each gram of sweat that evaporates removes about 2,500 J of heat from the skin, cooling core body temperature efficiently.
Exam Focus
State that hydrogen bonds must be broken before evaporation occurs — this is the mechanistic explanation examiners expect for 'large latent heat'.
Evaluation Scaffold
A four-step framework for high-quality evaluation. Use this for 'assess', 'evaluate', and 'to what extent' questions.
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