🔍 Key Concepts

• Saturated vapor vs. superheated vapor – understand what changes when vapor becomes superheated. • The role of temperature and pressure at saturation – for a given pressure there is a fixed saturation temperature. • How heat transfer works when vapor is still in contact with its liquid vs. when it is separated.

💭 Think About

• For a fixed pressure, what happens to the temperature of a saturated vapor if you add more heat while it is still in contact with the liquid? • Under what condition can the vapor’s temperature rise above the saturation temperature listed on a steam table for that pressure? • Which option describes a situation where the vapor is no longer forced to stay at the saturation temperature for that pressure?

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify how saturated vapor is defined: it is in equilibrium with its liquid at the boiling/condensing temperature for that pressure. • Check which choice, if true, would allow the vapor temperature to increase above its saturation temperature without a change in pressure. • Eliminate any options that only change the rate of evaporation or the amount of liquid without changing the equilibrium relationship between liquid and vapor.