Boiling Water Sim

"A watched pot never boils"  Benjamin Franklin Poor Richards Almanac

There is a conspiracy to keep people from watching their water boil and understanding what goes on. They don't want you to know what happens when you apply a heat source to a pot of water!  We are going to spill the beans on pots of water.

Step 1. Watch a pot boil (like this) and notice some of the details of this phenomenon.

Step 2. Lets think about what we know about heating water.

• When you apply heat energy to an object its temperature increases

• When you take away the heat source the temperature decreases until it gets to room temperature

• Water has a high heat capacity (it takes a relatively large amount of energy to raise its temperature. 

• Water can evaporate and boil to create water vapor (H2O in gas form)

• Water boils at 100°C

• It takes energy for molecules of water to become vapor

Step 3. Construct a model about what is going on

• Identify the parts of your system (heat source, water, surrounding)

• Describe the interaction between the parts

• Create a representation of the system