If water boils at 100 degrees C then why do we see steam when we shower/wash our hands sometimes?

Question

If water boils at 100 degrees C then why do we see steam when we shower/wash our hands sometimes?

In: 12

Answer 1

Temperature is an *average* of the kinetic energy of the molecules. What makes a temperature high, is all the molecules racing around bumping into one another.

This means that in a cooler body of water, *some* of the molecules can be going slower, and some can be going faster. Perhaps 2 water molecules slam into a 3rd at the same time and give it double the energy. That molecule will get ejected at high speed and vaporize — but the overall temperature (the average) of the liquid water won’t increase. In fact, it will get slightly lower because that 3rd molecule just left the liquid and took the energy from the first 2 molecules with it.