Ice, Water, and Steam
Follow water as heat turns it from solid to gas.
Setting up the bench…
What this lesson covers
Why it matters
Drop an ice cube in a pan and heat it. First it melts to water, then it bubbles, then it vanishes as steam — the same water all along, just with more energy.
Predict first
Heat ice steadily. In what order does it change?
Heating adds energy, so particles move faster and spread apart: solid ice melts to liquid water (0°C), then water boils to gaseous steam (100°C). Cooling reverses each step. It is the same water throughout.
- Ice → water → steam — correct
- Ice → steam → water
- It stays ice no matter how hot it gets
What you do
Arrange the stages as ice is heated all the way to steam.
Check yourself
Melting and boiling happen when you…
Heat gives particles energy to break free — solid to liquid to gas.
Ice, water and steam are…
They are all water (H₂O); only the state changes, not the substance.
- add heat, so particles move faster and spread apart — correct
- remove heat
- add more water
- the same substance (water) in different states — correct
- three completely different substances
- all solids