why does water turn into steam st 40°C

Question

For example a 40°c shower can turn water into water vapour even though the boiling point is 100°C

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

Water is made up of water molecules. Little bouncy ball like things that fly around at speed. The more heat you put in the faster the molecules go. If they go fast enough they have enough power to escape from the water and become steam.

However not all the the molecules are going at the same speed, some are going fast and others slow. So at any temp the really fast ones are going to be fast enough to escape. This forms a little space above the water where there are a lot of water vapor. Some of this gets pulled back into the water and other escapes and floats around your bathroom.

What the boiling point is, is the temp where there are enough water molecules going fast enough that the it can escape out and cool the water so it can’t get any hotter.