One student did an experiment with sea water. The steps of the experiment are shown below.

Heat 0.5 liters of sea water in a beaker.

Observe the sea water boil after about 5 minutes.

Continue to boil the sea water till its volume becomes 0.1 liters.

Observe a white residue at the bottom of the beaker.

The student's experiment demonstrates that gradual evaporation of sea water

A.) turns heat energy into particles of minerals

B.) converts surrounding gases into solid minerals

C.) leaves particles of minerals behind

D.) changes water into different solid minerals

I think the answer is C.

C. The student's experiment demonstrates that gradual evaporation of sea water leaves particles of minerals behind.

This process of boiling sea water from 0.5 liters to 0.1 liters with a white residue left behind shows that these minerals were present in sea water. However, as more and more water evaporated, the remaining water became saturated with minerals such that progressively, the minerals precipitated out of the mixture in the form of residue. This experiment does not show that heat energy can turn particles into minerals as heat energy is evidently being utilized to evaporate water.