Thermal tissue burns due to contact of the skin with steam can be much more seve

Question

Thermal tissue burns due to contact of the skin with steam can be much more severe than those caused by contact with hot water. The following questions will explore why contact with steam is more injurious. The specific heat of tissue is3500 J/(kgC), the specific heat of water is4186 J/(kgC), and the latent heat of vaporization of water is 2.26×106 J/kg.

Part A) If 10  of steam at 100 condenses on a burn victim's skin and is cooled to 40  on his skin, how much heat is transferred from the water?

Part B) If 10 g of steam at 100C condenses on a burn victim's skin and is cooled to 40 C on his skin, and his skin was originally at 37C, how much skin was heated to the final temperature?

Explanation / Answer

heat transfered from water = mass * specific heat * change in temperature + latent heat of vaporization * mass

heat transfered from water = 10 * 10^-3 * 4186 * (100 - 40) + 10 * 10^-3 * 2.26 * 10^6

heat transfered from water = 2.5 * 10^4 J

heat loss by steam = heat gained by skin

2.5 * 10^4 = mass of skin * specific heat of skin * change in temperature

2.5 * 10^4 = mass of skin * 3500 * (40 - 37)

mass of skin = 2400 g

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