Chapter 12, Problem 12.18P

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation:

The reason for the more severe burn from water vapor at $100°\text{C}$ than liquid water at $100°\text{C}$ is to be determined.

Concept introduction:

The phase is defined as the physical state of a substance. The properties of a phase are determined by the interaction of the potential energy $\left(E_p\right)$ and kinetic energy $\left(E_{\text{k}}\right)$ of particles. There are three major phases as follows:

1) Solid

2) Liquid

3) Gas

When a liquid is vaporized it changes into the gaseous phase and when a gas condenses it converts to the liquid phase. The phase changes can be expressed as follows:

$\text{Liquid}\underset{\text{Condensation}}{\overset{\text{Vaporization}}{\rightleftarrows }}\text{Gas}$