The velocity distribution of He atoms evaporating from a slab of liquid dodecane has been simulated. The distribution composed of similar to 10000 He trajectories is shifted to fractionally faster velocities as compared to a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution at the temperature of the liquid dodecane with an average translational energy of 1.05 x 2RT (or 1.08 x 2RT after correction for a cylindrical liquid jet), compared to the experimental work by Nathanson and co-workers (1.14 x 2RT) on liquid jets. Analysis of the trajectories allows us to infer mechanistic information about the modes of evaporation, and their contribution to the overall velocity distribution. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.