Caution: Do not read this post if you have been drinking, it may cause you to stumble and fall down.
When I first came here I said I would explain the "latent heat of evaporization" here is my attempt. The numbers given here are not allfactual, I don't have time to get my engineering books out.
It takes about 70 btu's to bring one pound of water from 32 degrees F to 212 degrees F, to turn that same pound of water to steam WITHOUT CHANGING TEMPERATURE it takes 970.3 btu's, you just changed states liquid to a gas, there are 3 states, solid (ice), liquid (water), gas (steam), the secret of steam is when it converts back to a liquid IT MUST FIRST GIVE UP THE 970.3 btu's OF HEAT. If you put a thermometer in a pan of water you are going to boil it will get to 212 rather quickly then sit there before it boils collecting the required btu's to convert to steam.
It works the same way with ice, you must give up around 300+/- btu's to change states from a liquid to a solid. That's why they put salt on ice when making icecream tho hurry the process of the change of states to force the removal of btu's from the cream to help it freeze by forcing the ice to change states from a solid to a liquid and pulling the needed heat from the icecream.
That's why your feet get so cold when you get snow in your boot it takes extra heat from your foot to make the ice change to a liquid!!
Why do we use steam? It is a way to turn heat energy into mechanical energy, we can't turn a turbine generator with heat to make electricity, but we can boil water and produce steam and drive a turbine to run a generator or use as a drive device, the only loss of energy is in heat loss from transmission pipes and other heat losing areas, the 970.3 latent heat is always the same.
Any other questions?
