Evaporation Rate Lab Simulation

A cotton ball wipes equal amounts of water, ethanol, and propanone onto a lab tabletop. Observe which liquid evaporates fastest.

Wipe Liquids & Start Pause Reset

Room temperature

22 °C

Water

H₂O

Ready 0% remaining

Ethanol

C₂H₅OH

Ready 0% remaining

Propanone

CH₃COCH₃

Ready 0% remaining

Make a Prediction

Water evaporates fastest Ethanol evaporates fastest Propanone evaporates fastest

Particle-Level Explanation

Evaporation occurs when particles at the liquid surface have enough kinetic energy to overcome attractions to nearby particles. At the same temperature, the liquid with weaker intermolecular attractions generally evaporates faster.

Water vapor Ethanol vapor Propanone vapor