What term describes the condition where adding heat to a liquid causes it to vaporize at the same temperature rather than increasing in temperature?

What term describes the condition where adding heat to a liquid causes it to vaporize at the same temperature rather than increasing in temperature?

• A. Superheating
• B. Sublimation
• C. Saturation
• D. Condensation

Answer: (C)

When a liquid reaches its boiling point for the given pressure, adding heat goes into changing the liquid into vapor rather than raising temperature. The liquid is in a saturated state with respect to its vapor, so the temperature remains fixed while the phase change occurs. This is why extra energy goes into latent heat of vaporization instead of increasing the temperature. Other terms don’t describe this situation: superheating implies heating above the boiling point without boiling, sublimation is solid to gas, and condensation is gas to liquid.

When a liquid reaches its boiling point for the given pressure, adding heat goes into changing the liquid into vapor rather than raising temperature. The liquid is in a saturated state with respect to its vapor, so the temperature remains fixed while the phase change occurs. This is why extra energy goes into latent heat of vaporization instead of increasing the temperature.

Other terms don’t describe this situation: superheating implies heating above the boiling point without boiling, sublimation is solid to gas, and condensation is gas to liquid.