Why does boiling water stay at 100 degrees?
Category:
food and drink
cooking
The reason water boils at 100 C (at one atmosphere pressure)is that at this point, the molecules on average have enough energy to break the inter-molecular bonds holding the water together. As the pressure increases, the molecules need more energy- and so need to be at a higher temperature- to break free.
Subsequently, one may also ask, why does boiling water stay at 100 degrees no matter how long it is heated?
The temperature will only remain constant whilst the heat source is still being applied. The temperature of the water will not exceed 100 degrees because above this the water will no longer be a liquid, it will be in a gaseous state (steam).
Accordingly, does boiling water stay at 100 degrees?
The answer is the water reaches its boiling point temperature and stays there. Boiling point depends on pressure. At sea level, water boils at 100 °C (212 °F) and freezes at 0 °C (32 °F). If you boil water at a higher pressure (below sea level, for example), the boiling point would be higher than 100 °C .
Product | Boiling Point at Atmospheric Pressure (oC) |
---|---|
Turpentine | 160 |
Water | 100 |
Water, sea | 100.7 |
o-Xylene | 144.4 |