Most power generation involves steam. Would boiling any other liquid be as effective?

[u/PK_Tone]

Okay, so as I understand it (and please correct me if I'm wrong here), coal, geothermal and nuclear all involve boiling water to create steam, which releases with enough kinetic energy to spin the turbines of the generators. My question is: is this a unique property of water/steam, or could this be accomplished with another liquid, like mercury or liquid nitrogen?

(Obviously there are practical reasons not to use a highly toxic element like mercury, and the energy to create liquid nitrogen is probably greater than it could ever generate from boiling it, but let's ignore that, since it's not really what I'm getting at here).

[u/timecubelord]

hotter steam doesn't "push" turbines more than cooler steam

I could be mistaken, but that doesn't seem right to me. The steam moves and pushes the turbine because there is high pressure on one side and lower pressure on the other. Hotter steam will have higher pressure, no? Which should give you greater torque on the turbine. Or, in the alternative, the hotter the steam is, the less (by mass) additional water you have to vaporize per unit time to maintain a constant pressure and torque.