When a gas changes into a liquid it releases energy as heat. In the case of water forming as precipitation, rain or snow, the heat warms the ambient atmosphere. Different substances release different amounts of heat when they condense, benzene, for example, has a different specific heat of condensation than water.

See also

• phase (matter) for a technical treatment of the underlying phenomena

External link

• Published simultaneously on Internet-Encyclopedia as "Specific heat of condensation" http://www.internet-encyclopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Specific_heat_of_condensation