Why does water have such a low vapor pressure?

Why does water have an unusually low vapor pressure for a liquid?

• Answer:

  Because the water molecule is polar (which is to say, it has positive and negative poles) water molecules attract each other more than most other molecules of liquids have for each other. This creates a phenomenon called surface tension. Water molecules which travel freely within the body of water, meet a kind of barrier at the surface, because of this attraction to other water molecules. Hence, water does not evaporate as easily as most liquids.