Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitchhiker 42
Water vapor is actually invisible (you can't see it). We don't typically refer to water vapor as steam. Steam is the same as clouds: they are little water droplets condensed in the air. Steam is a liquid dispersed in little drops in the air.
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I am sorry again but I am not sure who you are referring to as "we" but I have worked at Electric Power Generation facilities and WE refer to all of it as steam. In fact it is a major problem because we have had steam line breaks and it is impossible to see the "steam" and it can cause major problems. and injuries.
The term vapor is how I defined it above. It has to do with being lower than the critical temperature. It is still in the gas phase.
If you are referring to common usage I can't speak to that.
Little water droplets are not steam or vapor... they are liquid water.
When a substance in lower than the critical temperature it can exist in several states.
The term steam is probably ill-defined in common usage. But when we discuss it in my Thermo section we use the definitions I have outlined above.
thanks