Question #a5d42

1 Answer
Aditya Shaw
May 25, 2015

Steam contains an extra energy within it called latent heat,meaning hidden heat.
In a liquid , the particles are a bit closely packed but in gaseous or vapour state they are far apart.If you cool a gas of 1 #m^3# to make it liquid it would be nearly 10 #cm^3# or so.(The figures are just indicative to show the vast volume difference.)
This great volume can be acheived when the particles are far apart , & this is possible when the particles are having more energy called potential energy.
So, water at 100 degree C is at liquid state but steam at 100 degree C is in vapour state.So when steam touches our hands , that extra potential energy(here called as latent heat of vaporisation) gets released to convert it into water at 100 degree C .
This extra energy is very much greater and thus is harmful.

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