Consider a sealed container half-filled with water. Which statement best describes what occurs in the container a. Water evaporates until the air is saturated with water vapor; at this point, no more water evaporates. b. Water evaporates until the air is overly saturated (supersaturated) with water, and most of this water recondenses; this cycle continues until a certain amount of water vapor is present, and then the cycle ceases. c. Water does not evaporate because the container is sealed. d. Water evaporates, and then water evaporates and recondenses simultaneously and continuously. e. Water evaporates until it is eventually all in vapor form. Explain each choice. Justify your choice, and for choices you did not pick, explain what is wrong with them.

Water in the sealed container will evaporate until the air is saturated with water vapor, and at this point, no more water will evaporate. This situation represents an equilibrium between evaporation and condensation. This choice is correct as it represents the actual behavior of water and air in a sealed container at a constant temperature.

This choice suggests that water evaporates until the air is supersaturated, causing most of the evaporated water to recondense. According to this choice, this cycle continues until a certain amount of water vapor is present, and then the cycle stops. This choice is incorrect since supersaturation is an unstable state and requires specific conditions (e.g., rapid cooling) to occur. In reality, the water vapor will reach saturation, and equilibrium will take place.

This choice states that water will not evaporate as the container is sealed. This statement is incorrect since evaporation is a phenomenon that occurs at the molecular level, where molecules escape from the surface of the liquid into the gaseous phase. Sealing the container will not prevent this process from happening.

This choice implies that water in the container evaporates and recondenses at the same time, which creates a continuous cycle. Although this choice is similar to the equilibrium state in choice A, it differs in the fact that choice A states that the total evaporation will stop once saturation is reached. So, this choice is somewhat misleading, and the correct understanding should be based on the equilibrium between evaporation and condensation at the saturation point, as described in choice A.

This choice states that water evaporates until it is entirely in vapor form. Here, we need to consider that vaporization is a process that follows an equilibrium condition between evaporation and condensation. In a sealed container at constant temperature, the water will evaporate only until the air is saturated with water vapor, and at that point, the rate of evaporation will equal the rate of condensation. Therefore, this choice is incorrect since it implies no equilibrium is reached, and the container's temperature is not considered. In conclusion, choice A is the correct statement as it accurately describes the equilibrium state between evaporation and condensation at the saturation point in a sealed container. The other choices either present incorrect or misleading scenarios based on the behavior of water and air within a closed system.