More specifically, does almost boiling water have the same effect? Or is there something particularly special about boiling water that kills germs/bacteria? – if so what is it, and why is it special?
In: Chemistry
As many answered to the first part of your question, heat kills bacteria, and the higher of the heat the faster.
As to the second part of your question, boiling would kill much faster than almost boiling. The reason why is convection. Boiling water is essentially being stirred by the boiling, which causes much faster heat transfer. In a hypothetical world in which you could snap your fingers and make water any given temperature instantly, you would find that 100 Celsius actually kills bacteria significantly faster than 99.
In the real world, though, where water takes quite some time to heat up, you’ve probably pasteurized long before you hit the boil.
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