While both boiling water and steam are at 100°C (at standard atmospheric pressure), steam carries latent heat of vaporization. When steam comes into contact with cooler skin, it condenses into water, releasing a large amount of this latent heat in addition to the sensible heat. This extra energy transfer causes much deeper and more severe tissue damage compared to the transfer of sensible heat from boiling water.
Which of the following produces more severe burns ?
Asked in UPPSC Upper Mains 2007 · Topic: Heat and Thermodynamics (Calorimetry and Phase Changes (Specific Heat, Latent Heat))
More Physics questions
- Consider the following statements: Steam at 100° C and boiling water at 100° C contain same amount of heat. Latent heat of fusion of ice is equal to the latent heat of vaporization of water. In an air-conditioned, heat is extracted from the room air at the evaporator coils and is rejected out at the condenser coils. Which of these statements is/are correct?
- Same mass of iron, copper, water and glycerine are heated to 80° centigrade. Which substance among these, will take largest time to cool down to 20°?
- The process of rapid cooling of parts in metallurgical operation is called
- During a phase-change process in a condenser, its effectiveness is given by which of the following? Assume the heat capacity ratio to be - If the question has multiple statements, format using ... - For Assertion/Reason, retain 'Statement-I' and 'Statement-II' clearly. - For matching pairs, use HTML
- In cold countries, water is used as heat reservoir for wine bottles because
- Which of the following causes more severe burns?
- Cooking is done quickly in pressure cooker because
- Tea will be hotter if it is boiled in