Vaporization of an element or compound is a phase transition from the liquid or solid phase to gas phase.^[1] There are three types of vaporization: evaporation, boiling and sublimation.^{[citation needed]}

This diagram shows the nomenclature for the different phase transitions.

Evaporation is a phase transition from the liquid phase to gas phase that occurs at temperatures below the boiling temperature at a given pressure. Note: evaporation usually occurs on the surface.

Boiling is a phase transition from the liquid phase to gas phase that occurs at or above the temperature the boiling temperature. Note boiling occurs below the surface.

The term vaporization has also been used to refer to the physical destruction of an object that is exposed to intense heat. As noted in discussions of the effects of nuclear weapons, this includes the "vaporization" of human bodies by the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and of the Marshall Island of Elugelab by the 1952 thermonuclear test Ivy Mike.^[2]

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/623152/vaporization
2. ^ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/peopleevents/pandeAMEX63.html

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