Condensation

Condensation is conversion of a vapor into a liquid. Cooling vapor-bearing air below its dew point is a familiar example: droplets form on a cold surface as the saturation vapor pressure falls. In a mixture, the relevant comparison uses the condensable component's partial pressure, rather than the mixture's total pressure alone.

Creating a new droplet costs interfacial free energy, while conversion to the stable liquid lowers bulk free energy. A nucleation barrier can therefore permit supersaturated vapor before droplets appear. A pre-existing surface can lower that barrier through heterogeneous nucleation. Condensation also releases latent heat, so a cold plate or condenser must remove heat as liquid accumulates. At vapor-liquid equilibrium, evaporation and condensation continue microscopically with equal average opposing rates.