The Myth of the Boiling Point / Hasok Chang

Abstract

Around 1800, many reputable scientists reported significant variations in the temperature of pure water boiling under normal atmospheric pressure. The reported variations included a difference of over 1C between boiling in metallic and glass vessels (Gay-Lussac), and "superheating" up to 112C on extracting dissolved air out of water (De Luc). I have confirmed most of these observations in my own experiments, which are described with video footage in this paper. Water boils at the "boiling point" only under very particular circumstances. Our common-sense intuition about the fixedness of the boiling point is only sustained by our limited experience.

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