What is water vapor?

Water is a super special substance. It is basically everywhere on Earth – in our soils, our oceans, and our air.

Water exists in three states – liquid, solid, and gas. Liquid water helps hydrate us during a hot day or after a long sports game. Solid water, or ice, is colder and gives us a surface to ice-skate on. Water in its gas form is water vapor, or moisture.

A man in a light-gray t-shirt is outside, holding an open plastic water bottle over his head, pours the remaining water inside the bottle over his forehead to cool off in the humid heat. The water runs down his face and onto his shirt.

Oppressively hot summer days often evoke the expression, “it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” That sticky, tropical-like air combined with high temperatures is more than unpleasant. Image credit: U.S. Air Force Photo/Staff Sgt. Josie Walck

There is water vapor in our atmosphere because of evaporation. Evaporation happens when water changes from a liquid to a gas. Liquid water evaporates from oceans, lakes, rivers, plants, the ground, and fallen rain.

This graphic shows how water moves through the water cycle. According to this graphic, water evaporates from bodies of water like oceans and lakes. This movement is shown using yellow arrows pointing upwards from these bodies of water. Condensation happens in the clouds, and precipitation falls from the clouds.

The water cycle. Water moves through the Earth’s soil, atmosphere, and bodies of water by processes of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, transpiration, and many more! Image credit: Dennis Cain/NWS

So, what is humidity? Well, there are actually two different types of humidity!

What is water vapor?

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