Steam burn

[Gabrielle Schwab 1G]

I just want to make sure I am understanding this correctly. Steam causes greater burns than water at the same temperature because it releases more joules of energy into the body, right?

[Courtnie Ly]

Yes, I believe it's because although they are the same temperature, the steam has more heat because of the heat/energy supplied during the boiling process (phase transition, page 17 of the course reader).

[Chem_Mod]

Great discussion! You are heading to the right direction. I just want to add a bit more. The enthalpy of vaporization is endothermic and it is much more than the energy need to raise temperature of water or steam. So steam will undergo phase change which is exothermic and it releases a great amount of heat to your skins. Hot water simply drops in temperature and it does not release that much heat.

[Gabrielle Schwab 1G]

Ok great that makes complete sense. Thank you both!