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TonyJPRoss t1_j0mwe8v wrote

Reply to comment by mr47 in How does high humidity affect perceived temperature in hot and cold environments? by MindTheReddit

What I always thought was that a single molecule of water might have enough energy to change phase, even if the temperature of "the water" isn't that high. The energy of the water molecules follows a bell curve with a long tail in the high energy end - the evaporating particles are in that tail.

https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/521843/why-most-distribution-curves-are-bell-shaped-is-there-any-physical-law-that-lea

But wind has such a strong effect on the evaporation rate that I think this explanation must be lacking something. Do you have any insight?

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Chemomechanics t1_j0qky4o wrote

At an interface, it’s very likely for just-detached molecules to be deflected right back to the surface by the surrounding atmosphere, where they reattach. This is less likely to happen if convection is carrying them away, so the evaporation rate increases with wind.

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