Evaporation of small drops

Abstract

A theoretical approach to the phenomena of small drop evaporation is presented here. By considering the momentum balance and the energy balance surface equations, it is found that the evaporated mass rate is a parabolic function of the drop’s radius. This theory also predicts that the evaporation proceeds until the drop radius gets equal to the ‘‘Tolman’s length.’’ At this limit the liquid and the vapor become indistinguishable phases. The results are compared and discussed at the light of recent experimental work.