Final answer:
Water expands 1,700 times its original volume when vaporized into steam, absorbing 539 cal/g of heat during the phase change and additional heat once it becomes steam.
Step-by-step explanation:
As water is vaporized into steam, it expands to approximately 1,700 times its original volume. The process of vaporization or boiling occurs when water is heated to its boiling point under certain conditions of temperature and pressure, such as at 100°C and 1.00 atm, which is typical atmospheric pressure.
During vaporization, the water absorbs 539 cal/g of heat, which is the energy required for the phase change from liquid to gas. After the liquid has become steam, a continued increase in temperature results in the steam absorbing additional heat at a rate of 0.482 cal/g.°C. Understanding this process is vital to the study of thermodynamics, a branch of physics that deals with heat transfer and work.