<jwin...@cyllene.uwa.edu.au> wrote:
> What you wrote is true when there is liquid water and steam together in a > container - the combination cannot be heated to a temperature higher than > 100 deg C without raising the pressure. However once all the liquid has > turned to gas there is no longer any limit to what temperature it can be > raised to until the molecules dissociate into their component elements. > What would keep the molecules in the kettle, assuming the top or spout is open? What would prevent the gas density from declining indefinitely until it is close to a vacuum? My understanding is that the temperature does not rise as long as the volume is free to expand. In any case, with the real world case of the Rossi device or an actual kettle, you can make the metal as hot as you like, but as long as you keep pumping water in, unconfined steam coming out will be 100 deg C. It may not remove all of the heat, in which case the Rossi device (or kettle) will get hotter and hotter, losing heat by other paths. There is no feeback from the Rossi gadget to the cooling water flow, and no change in the flow rate. There is some other feedback to the electric heater control. I do not know how that works. Anyway, this explains why the steam temperature does not change, even though the Rossi device internal temperature is fluctuating, as you see in one of the graphs. People here have assumed that the cooling water has to be removing all of the heat, keeping everything in balance. There is no indication it is in balance. The unchanging steam temperature does not indicate that the machine is magically supplying just enough heat to keep the steam just above 100 deg C. - Jed
