Science · 6 pages · 12 min
Why steam can burn worse than the water under it
Steam at the boil still carries the latent heat that the liquid has already spent.
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From the opening
Steam can burn worse than the water under it because the vapor still has to give up latent heat before it is merely hot water. A small mass of steam at the boil therefore unloads that stored heat and then cools as a liquid on the skin. The opening covers latent heat at the same temperature, why the kettle spout is worse, and what pressurized steam adds.
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Inside
- Latent heat at the same temperature
- Why the kettle spout is worse
- What pressurized steam adds
- Why a visible cloud differs
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Latent heat of vaporization of water
- Condensation of saturated steam onto a cooler surface