<h5>Who is behind this research?</h5><p>Evaporation happens all around us, and we all know that water evaporates due to heat. But, have you ever heard that water gets evaporated due to light? Well, recent research shows that light can also make water evaporate.</p><p>A team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has researched this, saying light can cause water to evaporate without requiring any heat. Their research has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal.</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/newsahoot.appspot.com/o/discovered-light-can-make-water-evaporate%2Fevaporation.jpg?alt=media&amp;token=e9346f75-63ad-4f37-a684-a89bfc3745a9"><figcaption>Evaporation of water. Photo by Anthropocene Magazine from Future Earth.</figcaption></figure><h5>What’s the reason behind conducting this research?</h5><p>In recent years, several researchers were surprised to discover that water used in their experiments, which was trapped in a hydrogel, evaporated faster than could be determined by the quantity of heat the water was getting. So, the MIT researchers conducted their study.</p><p>The team said that under certain conditions, at the point where water meets air, light may directly cause evaporation without any heat. In fact, it does so more efficiently than heat.</p><h5>How was the research conducted?</h5><p>Initially, the researchers experimented with solar evaporation by putting light-absorbing particles in water to convert sunlight into heat. Later, they discovered another group that made water evaporate faster using hydrogel. So, the research team conducted their own hydrogel experiments.</p><p>This experiment showed a high evaporation rate. They believed that the increased evaporation was caused by light, causing water molecules to break away from the surface. This effect occurred solely at the hydrogel's surface, where water meets air. It may also occur on the sea's surface or on little water droplets in clouds or fog.</p><p>The researchers examined the water's evaporation rate under various colours of light, one after another. They accomplished this by weighing a container of water-soaked hydrogel and measuring the weight lost due to evaporation. They also checked the temperature above the hydrogel surface to ensure the lights did not generate extra heat.</p><p>They noticed that the evaporation rate varied with the colour of the light, with green being the most efficient. Since light’s colour has nothing to do with heat, it implies that light causes water evaporation.</p><p>The researchers tried to replicate the high evaporation rate they saw without using light by heating the material with electricity instead. However, the water evaporation never exceeded a certain limit. But, when the team used simulated sunlight, the water evaporated faster than expected. This proved that light was responsible for the extra evaporation.</p><p>While the researchers used hydrogel for their experiment, they said this effect can happen under other conditions as well.</p><h5>What can this experiment be used for?</h5><p>The team has named this effect the ‘photomolecular effect.’ They are now focused on how to use it in practical applications, but more study is required.</p><p>Nonetheless, this phenomenon could be used for practical applications, such as more effective ways of producing freshwater from saltwater. They are also studying how this phenomenon may influence climate change.</p>

This discovery has been named by an MIT research team as the 'photomolecular effect.’

Discovered: Light Can Make Water Evaporate

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Discovered: Light Can Make Water Evaporate

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