Evaporation Rate Microworld

This interactive animation will allow learners to explore the factors that influence the evaporation rate of water.

This is an interface mockup of the actual interactive. This is not done, and is NOT YET functional.

In the eventual interactive, learners will be able to adjust the water temperature, air temperature, and humidity (input parameters) and see how these variables effect the evaporation rate (output).

Questions for Scientists/Modelers:

• Are these (air temperature, water temperature, & humidity) the appropriate input parameters? Are there other important factors that should be included?
• What range of values is appropriate for each of the input parameters?
• What is the algorithm/equation that applies?

  Evaporation rate = fn (temperature_Air, temperature_Water, humidity)

Use with more advanced students (high school... undergrad?... grad?)

• use as virtual lab - ask students to determine equation that governs evaporation process by conducting a series of experiments (control two variables while altering third... then look for couplings?)
• also possibility of having students alter the constants (functions?) as well as the variables to develop their own model; e.g.

  Evaporation rate = K₁*temperature_Air + K₂*temperature_Water + K₃*humidity

or even:

Evaporation rate = fn₁(temperature_Air) + fn₂(temperature_Water) + fn₃(humidity)

... where student could choose from some standard types of functions (exponential growth or decay, linear, sine & cosine, etc.)