Steam

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/steam

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the thermodynamic state?Water in its gaseous phase, often invisible
2. What is the energy transfer medium?Efficiently stores and transports thermal energy due to high enthalpy of vaporization
3. What is steam and how does it form from water?Steam is water that has turned into a gas when it gets hot enough. It happens when water molecules move fast enough to break the forces holding them together.
4. Why is steam important for factories and trains in the past?Steam engines use the huge expansion of water into gas to push pistons and turn wheels. This made factories, trains, and ships run faster and helped the Industrial Revolution.

Enthalpy of Vaporization: The quantity of energy required to convert a unit mass of liquid into gas at constant temperature and pressure.
Reciprocating Piston Engine: An engine that uses a piston moving back and forth within a cylinder to convert pressure into rotational motion.
Steam Turbine: A rotary engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work.
Boiling Point: The temperature at which a liquid turns into a gas at a given pressure.