Thread: Micro waved water - one MUST read

A 26-year old guy decided to have a cup of coffee . He took a cup of water and put it in the microwave to heat it up (something that he had done numerous times before). I am not sure how long he set the timer for, but he told me he wanted to bring the water to a boil. When the timer shut the oven off, he removed the cup from the oven. As he looked into the cup, he noted that the water was not boiling, but instantly the water in the cup 'blew up' into his face. The cup remained intact until he threw it out of his hand but all the water had flown out into his face due to the build up of energy. His whole face is blistered and he has 1st and 2nd degree burns to his face, which may leave scarring. He also may have lost partial sight in his left eye. While at the hospital, the doctor who was attending to him stated that this is fairly common occurrence and water (alone) should never be heated in a microwave oven . If water is heated in this manner, something should be placed in the cup to diffuse the energy such as: a wooden stir stick, tea bag , etc. It is however a much safer choice to boil the water in a teakettle.

General Electric's (GE) response: Thanks for contacting us. I will be happy to assist you. The e-mail that you received is correct. Micro waved water and other liquids do not always bubble when they reach the boiling point. They can actually get superheated and not bubble at all. The superheated liquid will bubble up out of the cup when it is moved or when something like a spoon or teabag is put into it. To prevent this from happening and causing injury, do not heat any liquid for more than two minutes per cup. After heating, let the cup stand in the microwave for thirty seconds before moving it or adding anything into it. If you pass this on .... you could very well save someone from lot of pain and suffering.

is it true or something from another chain letter hmy:

if it is true then i will not boil water in oven :no:

Yes, this is true. water superheats if not disturbed. just put
a wooden stick like a chopstick in the glass while heating water.
-F

but while putting it.. keep your face away... )

you put the stick in before you start heating...

I did'nt get you farce... pls elaborate...
I wud love to try this as is somewhat similar to Mentos in Pepsi but it never harmed ...
This may be harmful..

Have you tried mentos in pepsi??? once i saw this kind of mail but those guys were using coke instead of pepsi

Try it. Its really funny... I have been doing it with all the expired Cokes and Pepsi's... Its fun.
remember using a pet bottle to be on safer side....

No, actually i have seen what happen if you do so.. i was jus asking you

Our not-very-spectacular pepsi-mentos experiment ;-)

Originally Posted by lovelyMe

I did'nt get you farce... pls elaborate...
I wud love to try this as is somewhat similar to Mentos in Pepsi but it never harmed ...
This may be harmful..

well, some science behind boiling water - the boiling is triggered by the
generation of tiny bubbles on the surface of the vessel due to the
minute imperfections in the vessel. If you use a perfectly smooth
glass cup there is no bubble formation and hence no boiling, but
the microwave keeps heating the water well past its boiling point.
Now if you disturb the containter a whole lot of steam will be
generated and will be like an explosion. When you put a
stick in the glass it acts as a catalyst for the steam generation and
the water will just boil.

Hope this explains.

-F

Thanks for the info, was really useful i didn't actually know that!

Originally Posted by Manish

Have you tried mentos in pepsi??? once i saw this kind of mail but those guys were using coke instead of pepsi

Haven t heard about that, whats that all about?

Originally Posted by Preeti_20

Thanks for the info, was really useful i didn't actually know that!




Haven t heard about that, whats that all about?

you didn't see my video a few posts before this?
-F

We put 6 mentos in 1.5 ltr pet... it was a good fountain splash kind of a thing...

What if someone swallows mentos & then drink pepsi/coke.....

wuuuufffff... may be... but something must happen.. i m too scared to try.

I read this boiled water exploding thing in a mail sometime back... It is true... it can xplode... just put in something in the bowl... like spoon...

Mentos-Pepsi thing is new to me... but I guess.. I had pepsi many times while chewing a mentos... nothing happened so far...

Originally Posted by jee.ramesh1983

What if someone swallows mentos & then drink pepsi/coke.....

The mail which I saw was regarding the same warning:

Dont take pepsi/coke and mentos together

Originally Posted by jee.ramesh1983

What if someone swallows mentos & then drink pepsi/coke.....

See: youtube.com/watch?v=KCLg3nv8MuI - and now imagine that happening in your stomach! :innocent:
But yeah, I think you would need a lot of coke/pepsi in your stomach to get that kind of reaction!

Not that I am going to try it but I think the
CO2 concentration would have fallen so much
when you drink it that it won't fizz that much
in your digestive track, just a minor burp maybe ;-)

-Fr

but that burp must be damaging somewhere in the system...

Originally Posted by itsmemad

I read this boiled water exploding thing in a mail sometime back... It is true... it can xplode... just put in something in the bowl... like spoon...

Mentos-Pepsi thing is new to me... but I guess.. I had pepsi many times while chewing a mentos... nothing happened so far...

Make sure its a wooden spoon like Farce suggested .......

Ok... Thanks!

This water super heating thing ....

Any reliable sources that you can quote?

What you are saying isint possible according to the little physics that I have studies in school.

No Admin Water does Superheat in microwave[if you boil for a long time] .......... I ll try to find some reference

US Govt site
http://www.fda.gov/CONSUMER/updates/...ave112107.html