steam at 50 degrees C?

[bonnie]

Hi

I must be a bit of an amateur on chemistry, but I have one question. Sometimes in the shower, water at 50degrees celcius produces steam. How is this possible when steam is 100 degrees celcius water, and the water in the shower is half that temperature??

 

bonnie

[YT2095]

what you`re seeing isn`t Steam (you can`t see steam), but Water Vapor (like in Clouds). This can occur at a wide range of different temperatures and doesn`t need to be at 100c

[bonnie]

thanks for that!

[deltanova]

it's produced when the warm water makes contact with the cold air. thats why you get fog in the mornings and why there is not vapour comming off water at room temperature.it can be the reverse with cold water hot air.

[bonnie]

well thank you for that tash...just coz you're doing chemistry...

[YT2095]

here`s a neat experiment to demonstrate this if you like.

the next time you boil a kettle, have a good look at the spout as it boils.

for the 1`st inch or so you`ll see nothing as if it`s fresh air, perfectly invisible, and then soon afterwards it`ll condense and turn into water vapour.

seriously, I`m not kidding

[bonnie]

thanks, i'll try it out!

 

bonnie

[swansont]

Technically vapor is used to describe the gaseus form, so that isn't visible, either. The water has started to condense, so it's mist/fog/cloud of the small condensed droplets suspended in the air. This is yet another case where the science definition is at odds with the everyday definition, where a diffuse suspension might be called a vapor. A foggy definition, as it were.

[YT2095]

interesting, as I was taught that steam is in fact a Gas, the later product on cooling (or pressure drop) then becomes the Vapor that may Then condense further to become a precipitate.