# Smoke/steam from bullet holes in humans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 18, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoke-steam-from-bullet-holes-in-humans/775068 "2016-12-18T19:06:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoke-steam-from-bullet-holes-in-humans/775068/21 "2016-12-20T23:43:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Possibly-important nitpick: You’re not asking about steam, which is invisible. What you’re seeing might be fog… You may be referring to the difference between _superheated_ steam (not visible) and _saturated_ steam (visible)… They are both however, steam. On the other end of the steam spectrum, _fog_, is considered steam (at times), as in the poetic “steamy” lakes of Winnemuckahaha. ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoke-steam-from-bullet-holes-in-humans/775068/22 "2016-12-21T00:26:24Z")
Steam is invisible, water vapor is visible. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoke-steam-from-bullet-holes-in-humans/775068/23 "2016-12-21T00:53:06Z")
> **[Definition of STEAM](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/steam)** > > a vapor arising from a heated substance; the invisible vapor into which water is converted when heated to the boiling point; the mist formed by the condensation on cooling of water vapor… See the full definition Steam=water vapor in colloquial English. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoke-steam-from-bullet-holes-in-humans/775068/24 "2016-12-21T01:36:54Z")
> [@SigMan](#): > > Steam is invisible, water vapor is visible. Since when, says who? (Other than you and Chronos). ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoke-steam-from-bullet-holes-in-humans/775068/25 "2016-12-21T02:00:20Z")
Perhaps some technical interpretation of “steam” necessitates the requirement of “invisibility” to the phenomenon of it’s existence, as related to humans. Of this, I am not aware. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoke-steam-from-bullet-holes-in-humans/775068/26 "2016-12-21T02:14:05Z")
When I crack a valve on a 300# steam line at work… Steam comes out:smack: ---
**Author:** ![SigMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SigMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SigMan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoke-steam-from-bullet-holes-in-humans/775068/27 "2016-12-21T02:21:48Z")
> [@ZurBob](#): > > Since when, says who? (Other than you and Chronos). Mr Wizard himself [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/oTKmWp7ek2A/hqdefault.jpg "What's the Difference Between Steam and Water Vapor? - Mr. Wizard's Quick Quiz") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTKmWp7ek2A) ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoke-steam-from-bullet-holes-in-humans/775068/28 "2016-12-21T02:35:35Z")
[quote=“SigMan, post:27, topic:775068”] Mr Wizard himself [/QUOTE] Absolutely correct from a technical perspective, but absolutely incorrect from a colloquial perspective related to the definition of “steam”. That is the point, related to the OP. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoke-steam-from-bullet-holes-in-humans/775068/29 "2016-12-21T02:50:34Z")
So, According to you, Mr. Wizard is correct in stating that we don’t have 300# of steam pressure at our header? ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoke-steam-from-bullet-holes-in-humans/775068/30 "2016-12-22T00:56:47Z")
Sort of like defining light. We cannot see various wavelengths of infrared or ultraviolet, yet we have the human ability to see “visible” light. However, it is our convention that **all** is nonetheless considered… _LIGHT._ We cannot see superheated steam, yet we can observe saturated steam… It is our convention that \*\*all \*\*is, nonetheless, considered **steam**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoke-steam-from-bullet-holes-in-humans/775068.md?page=1)