specific heat capacity?

Question

why does water (liquid) have a higher high specific capacity than steam (gas) and ice (solid) when all of them are made by the same elements?

Answer 1

Because the amount of increase in the thermal agitation of water is smaller per calorie than it is for steam (which is already highly agitated) or for ice (which is relatively small due to the molecules being 'locked' into a crystaline lattice).

Doug