**Ask a monkey a physics question thread**

[OngBonga]

I think that in the 2-3 seconds that it takes for the handle to warm noticably, some of the water is turning into steam as it makes contact with the very hot surface of the pan. This in turn saturates the surrounding air, warming it and causing locally high humidity, resulting in a decrese in aerial condensation of steam. This will cause a reasonable amount of steam to travel in all directions as it expands (or diffuses?). Any steam that comes into contact with the cool metal handle will quickly condense into water, thus releasing heat.

This explanation doesn't seem all that exotic. Granted, I have no idea how much heat is released when a steam molecule condenses into water. But when I'm filling my lighter up, the liquid gas that escpaes into the air and evaporates causes a significant cooling to the point it freezes the bottom of the lighter and cools the fingers where it holds the lighter to the point it almost hurts. I can see condensation having the opposite effect to this.

[MadMojoMonkey]

I think that in the 2-3 seconds that it takes for the handle to warm noticably, some of the water is turning into steam as it makes contact with the very hot surface of the pan. This in turn saturates the surrounding air, warming it and causing locally high humidity, resulting in a decrese in aerial condensation of steam. This will cause a reasonable amount of steam to travel in all directions as it expands (or diffuses?). Any steam that comes into contact with the cool metal handle will quickly condense into water, thus releasing heat.

This explanation doesn't seem all that exotic.

This could be tested with a 2nd pan. Allow the steam from the first pan to condense on the handle of the 2nd pan and measure the increase in temp on the 2nd pan's handle.

Granted, I have no idea how much heat is released when a steam molecule condenses into water.

The heat of vaporization of water is:
H_v(water) = 2,260 J/g

If you have 1 gram of steam at 100 C, you will release 2,260 J of energy by condensing that gram to water at 100 C.

If the steam has already converted to water vapor, then the energy cost to change states has already been spent.