So in addition to having a high specific heat, water also has a high heat of vaporization. Now, vaporization is also referred to as evaporation, and so vaporization or evaporation is really just referring to the phase transition when a substance goes from a liquid state to a gaseous state, or essentially when a substance is going to be converted from its liquid state to a gaseous state. And so the heat of vaporization is specifically defined as the amount of heat energy that's required to convert 1 gram of liquid into its gaseous state. Now, once again, water has a really high heat of vaporization, which means that it takes a relatively large amount of energy in order to convert 1 gram of liquid water into its gaseous state. And so the reason that water has such a high heat of vaporization is due to the abundance of hydrogen bonds that form between the water molecules in its liquid form.
And so, if we take a look at our example image down below of water's heat of vaporization, notice that we're showing you the heat of vaporization of water. And so notice that we have a pot here that's filled with boiling water since we're applying a lot of heat energy to it. And so, when we zoom into this boiling water down below here, we can see that it's going to be in its liquid water form, which we know is going to be highly dense, compact, and it's going to be forming hydrogen bonds between different water molecules. And so, you can see the hydrogen bonds forming when water's in its liquid state. Now if we want to convert liquid water into the gaseous form, water vapor, then we need to apply a high amount of energy and heat, and that's exactly what this flame is doing here.
And so, when we do that, we're capable of breaking all of the hydrogen bonds that form between the liquid water molecules, and when we break all of those hydrogen bonds, the water molecules are capable of escaping into the gaseous form, the water vapor form. And notice that the water vapor is much less dense. These water molecules are much more spread apart. And there are no hydrogen bonds, no hydrogen bonds forming between the water molecules in the water vapor form, the gaseous form. And so, when you can see that this image is just a zoom in into the steam here that's above the water.
And so the main point here is that water has a high heat of vaporization, meaning it takes a large amount of energy to convert one gram of liquid water into the gaseous state and that also helps with maintaining homeostasis and making sure that water stays in its liquid form which is critical to maintain life. And so this here concludes our introduction to water's high heat of vaporization and we'll be able to get some practice applying these concepts in our next video. So, I'll see you all there.