"Ron Henderson"
wrote in message
roups.com...
replying to Jon Danniken, Ron Henderson wrote:
It is impossible to heat water above it's boiling point. At that
point it
becomes steam. Only the steam can be heated above 212°F.


The "boiling point" is the temperature at which the liquid's vapor
pressure equals the pressure of the air (or steam) above it, allowing
bubbles that form at hot spots to expand against the surrounding
pressure. Unlike the freezing point it is in no sense a constant, but
varies with imposed conditions.

In mile-high Denver water boils at ~202F/94C. Room-temperature water
will boil in a vacuum chamber. In a PWR-type nuclear power plant the
primary coolant water remains liquid at 600F and 2250PSI. If it
accidentally boils it becomes a less effective neutron moderator and
automatically decreases the rates of fission and heat production.

--jsw