The ability of a liquid to evaporate quickly and at relatively low temperatures. The lower the temperature a liquid will evaporate at, the higher it's volatility.

A volatile substance can be defined as (1) a substance that evaporates readily at normal temperatures and/or (2) one that has a measurable vapor pressure. The term volatile usually applies to liquids. However, some solid materials can change directly from solid to vapor without ever becoming liquid, a process called sublimation. The rate at which a substance vaporizes (volatilizes) under a fixed set of conditions is called the evaporation rate. As the temperature is raised, substances become more volatile (vaporize more easily), raising the potential hazards. Organic chemicals that easily form vapors are called volatile organic compounds (VOC's). Volatile is the name of more than one concept: A financial instrument with high volatility is considered volatile in economics. ... The vapor pressure is the pressure (if the vapor is mixed with other gases, the partial pressure) of a vapor. ... Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic chemical compounds that have high enough vapour pressures under normal conditions to significantly vaporize and enter the atmosphere. ...