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Name: fairview
Status: N/A
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 1999
Question:
Could steel change from a solid to gas?


Replies:
Steel is a form of iron. Steel melts at about 1300 degrees Celsius (2400 Fahrenheit). It's boiling point is about 3000 C (or 5400 F). To generate that much heat would be astounding! Even when you get to the boiling point, you would have to keep adding energy to vaporize the steel. I haven't been able to come across a value for the amount of heat needed for this either (called "delta H of vaporization"), but my guess would be that it is very high since the vapor pressure of molten steel is probably very low (vapor pressure is a measure of a liquid's tendency to go to the gas phase). If your question meant can steel go directly from solid to gas (which is called sublimation, what 'dry ice' does), no.

-Joe Schultz


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