What is boil?

Boil is when water turns into steam because it gets really hot.

Imagine you have a pot of water on the stove. The heat from the stove makes the water warmer and warmer. At some point, the water becomes so hot that it starts to change, instead of being liquid, it turns into gas, which we call steam.

Like When You Make Hot Chocolate

Think about making hot chocolate. You put water in a pot and heat it up. As the water gets hotter, you can see little bubbles forming at the bottom of the pot. Those bubbles are air and steam trying to escape. When the water is boiling, it’s like a party, lots of bubbles rising to the top, making a loud hissing sound.

Boil Is Just Water's Happy Dance

If you put your hand near the pot, you might feel warm air or even see steam, that’s the water turning into gas because it got so hot. It’s like when you breathe on a cold window and see your breath, only this time, the water is dancing from liquid to gas in front of your eyes!

Take the quiz →

Examples

  1. Boiling water in a pot to make pasta
  2. Seeing bubbles form when you heat up soup
  3. Making hot chocolate by boiling milk

Ask a question

See also

Discussion

Recent activity

Categories: Science · boiling· water· science basics