Which law describes water's ability to absorb heat and convert liquid into vapor?

The law that describes water's ability to absorb heat and convert liquid into vapor is the law of specific heat. This concept pertains to the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of a substance by a certain amount. Water has a high specific heat capacity, which means it can absorb a significant amount of heat without a corresponding large increase in temperature. This property is crucial for various processes, including the transition from liquid to vapor—in other words, the process of evaporation.

When heat is added to water, it first increases the kinetic energy of the water molecules, raising the temperature until it reaches the boiling point. Once boiling occurs, additional heat is used to convert the water from a liquid to a vapor, effectively allowing it to absorb and store energy in the vapor phase. This characteristic of water helps regulate temperature in environments, influencing weather patterns and climate, among other applications.

Other laws listed, such as the law of conservation, deals with the conservation of mass and energy in closed systems, while the laws of thermodynamics cover broader principles of energy transfer and conversion, including those that govern heat flow. The law of resistance pertains to electrical resistance in conductive materials and is unrelated to thermal properties of substances like water.