Which characteristic of a substance indicates that it evaporates quickly?

The term "volatile" is used to describe substances that have a low boiling point and can easily transition from a liquid to a gas at room temperature. This characteristic means that these substances can evaporate quickly due to their tendency to form vapor. Examples of volatile substances include alcohol, gasoline, and many solvents. The volatility is largely influenced by the intermolecular forces present in the substance; weak intermolecular forces allow molecules to escape into the gas phase more easily, leading to rapid evaporation.

In contrast, "soluble" refers to the ability of a substance to dissolve in a solvent, which does not inherently indicate how quickly that substance might evaporate. "Stable" describes a substance's resistance to change under specific conditions and does not relate to evaporation rate. "Inert" refers to substances that are chemically unreactive, which may or may not have any implications regarding volatility, but it does not directly indicate a tendency to evaporate quickly. Thus, "volatile" is specifically the characteristic that indicates a substance evaporates quickly.