If water boils at 100°C, and boiling is the process of turning liquid into gas, why are bathrooms full of steam when showering at only 40°C?

Question

If water boils at 100°C, and boiling is the process of turning liquid into gas, why are bathrooms full of steam when showering at only 40°C?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

What you see in the bathroom isn’t actually steam. It’s water vapour – tiny blobs of liquid water.

Steam is water over 100°C (assuming you’re not really high up a mountain, or deep down in the ocean). It’s also see through. Look at the steam escaping from a kettle or the lid of a boiling pan of water. You’ll see a portion that’s see through. That’s the steam. When it cools slightly it becomes water vapour – the cloudy stuff.