It is the slow transition of matter from a liquid to a gaseous state

The answer is: evaporation

This paragraph talks about the process of evaporation, which is the slow transformation of a substance from a liquid state to a gaseous state without boiling. This phenomenon occurs when a liquid substance turns into a gas, such as when hot water evaporates. The temperature level inside the water rises and this causes the speed of movement of water molecules to increase, which reduces the attractive forces between them to turn into gas. The gas can turn back into a liquid through the process of condensation when its heat is released, as happens in winter when dew forms on glass. The process can be tried by placing water on a heat source and monitoring it to see how it turns into a gas without boiling.