Video Transcript
What is the value of the boiling point of water? Give your answer to the nearest kelvin.
To answer this question, it might be helpful to first recall the boiling point of water in degrees Celsius. Remember the magnitude of one degree Celsius is equivalent to that of one kelvin, so it’s easy to convert between the two. Also, the Celsius temperature scale was basically designed around the freezing point and the boiling point of water. This resulted in a very easy number value for us to remember. The boiling point of water is 100 degrees Celsius.
Now, all we need to recall is that there’s a difference of 273 between these two temperature scales, specifically that when we convert from Celsius to kelvin, we simply add 273. Thus, we have 100 degrees Celsius plus 273, which gives us a value of 373 kelvin. Since this is already expressed as a whole number, we have our answer. The value of the boiling point of water is 373 kelvin.
