what is latent heat of vaporization?

Latent heat of vaporization is the amount of heat required to convert 1 kilogram of a liquid into vapour at its boiling point without any change in temperature.

During this process, the heat energy is used to overcome the intermolecular forces between liquid particles rather than increase the temperature.

Example:
When water at 100°C changes into steam at 100°C, it absorbs latent heat of vaporization without becoming hotter.

For water:

• Latent heat of vaporization = 2.26 × 10⁶ J/kg

In simple terms: It is the hidden heat needed to change a liquid into a gas without changing its temperature.