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MyWikiBiz, Author Your Legacy — Sunday October 19, 2025
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In [[physical chemistry]], and in [[engineering]], '''steam''' refers to [[water vapor|vaporized water]]. It is a pure, completely invisible [[gaseous phase|gas]] (for [[mist]] see below). Pure steam (unmixed with air, but in equilibrium with water-liquid) has a temperature of around 100 degrees [[Celsius]] at standard atmospheric pressure, and occupies about 1,600 times the volume of liquid water (steam can of course be much hotter than the [[boiling point]] of water; such steam is usually called '''[[superheating|superheated steam]]'''). In the atmosphere, the [[partial pressure]] of water is much lower than 1 atm, therefore gaseous water can exist at temperatures much lower than 100 C (see [[water vapor]] and [[humidity]]).
''In common speech,'' '''steam''' most often refers to the white [[mist]] that condenses above boiling water as the hot vapor ("steam" in the first sense) mixes with the cooler air. This mist is made of tiny droplets of liquid water, not gaseous water, so it is no longer technically steam.
''In common speech,'' '''steam''' most often refers to the white [[mist]] that condenses above boiling water as the hot vapor ("steam" in the first sense) mixes with the cooler air. This mist is made of tiny droplets of liquid water, not gaseous water, so it is no longer technically steam.
