Superheated steam

We know water puts out fire, but how about starting one? Students rarely get to see what water is capable of when neither solid nor liquid and many times when students might think they’re looking at steam, they are in fact looking at liquid water. These misattributions of the properties of the liquid to those of the gas can lead to some startling demonstrations – such as, as a gas, water has the capacity to start, rather than extinguish, a fire. In this article and video, Declan Fleming shows you how to do a demonstration using superheated steam to light a match, perfect for teaching your students about enthalpy or the properties of water.