Burns caused by steam are much more severe than those caused by boiling water as................?

Question

Burns caused by steam are much more severe than those caused by boiling water as................?

Answer 1

to put it simply, burns caused by steam are much more severe than those caused by boiling water because the highest temperature boiling water can reach is 100 degrees celcius. however, steam is basically boiling water heated up, so therefore the temperature of steam would be way higher, therefore causing a more subsatncial and more severe burn. a burn caused by boiling water could still be severe but one from steam would be worse.

hope this helps.

Answer 2

A BTU is a unit of thermal energy.

It takes 1 BTU to raise 1 pound of water 1 degree F. ( Add energy to water and it will get warmer)

To convert that 1 pound of water to steam it takes additional energy to convert water at 212F to steam at 212F. This is called the heat of vaporization and it is 965 BTU.

Steam therefore contains much more energy per pound than water.  

To condense steam @ 212F back into water it must first give up its stored heat of vaporization (965 btu/lb) BEFORE there will be a temperature decrease. So Steam will maintain the hot 212F temperature as it must first condense before a temperature drop will be noted.

Liquid Water at 212F is not steam and therefore has no additional energy stored in the form of Heat of Vaporization.  Therefor removing BTU energy from 212F water  will have an immeadiate effect on water temperature (lowering it).

Answer 3

This has something to do with calorific value.

Basically, boiling water has a certain amount of energy which shows up as heat. Now, for boiling water to get converted to steam, as you know, you will need to heat it a little more. This heat, which you give it, gives it more energy, and thus, when burns are caused, boiling water gives up a little of its energy and can be assumed to come to your body temperature. For steam, first it has to give up the energy it needed to get converted to steam from boiling water, and then it needs to come to your body temperature. If you look at the numbers (I will refrain from quoting numbers because a general logical understanding of this will stay with you forever), the amount of heat needed by water to convert to steam is quite a lot (infact it is more than the quantity of heat you need to get that boiling water to your body temperature) Consequently, steam burns are more severe than those caused by boiling water...

Hope that helps :)