Question

A person's skin is more severely burnt when put in contact with 1 g of steam at 100°C than when put in contact with 1 g of water at 100°C. Explain

Answer 1

Steam has greater energy than boiling water due to latent heat of vapourisation. The internal energy of the vapour at 100 ^oC is greater than the internal energy of the boiling water at the same temperature. Thus, steam burns the skin more severely than boiling water.