Nucleate boiling
![Behavior of water on a hot plate. Graph shows heat transfer (flux) v. temperature (in degrees Celsius) above TS, the saturation temperature of water, 100 °C (212 °F).](/Images/godic/202501/08/Heat_transfer_leading_to_Leidenfrost_effect_for_water_at_1_atm0212.png")
![Boiling Curve for water at 1atm](/Images/godic/202501/08/Boiling_Curve0212.jpg")
Nucleate boiling is a type of boiling that takes place when the surface temperature is hotter than the saturated fluid temperature by a certain amount but where the heat flux is below the critical heat flux. For water, as shown in the graph below, nucleate boiling occurs when the surface temperature is higher than the saturation temperature (TS) by between 10 °C (18 °F) to 30 °C (54 °F). The critical heat flux is the peak on the curve between nucleate boiling and transition boiling.