You are right about distilled water but contaminated water can boil at higher or lower tempratures depending on what it is contaminated with assume 1 ATM pressure. For example alcohol will lower the boiling point and salt will raise the boiling point.
You are right about distilled water but contaminated water can boil at higher or lower tempratures depending on what it is contaminated with assume 1 ATM pressure. For example alcohol will lower the boiling point and salt will raise the boiling point.
Squisher
Lifer
- Aug 17, 2000
- 21,204
- 66
- 91
Yup, water needs a source of contamination in a microwave to not super heat.
You do too good of a job cleaning your dishes.
Super heating is bad because when the super heated water hits the contamination (like a tea bag), it just about vaporizes on contact.
that's an old wives tale. It takes very special conditions to get the water superheated. ust putting a cup of water in the microwave wont' do it.
So yeah, water does boil in a microwave. Once it hits 100C it boils - unless you've added something to it or the special cases for superheating like a very small service area of water.
Really? I watched a news segment on it where someone was burned that way. The reporter then went ahead and microwaved a cup of water. She then dropped a spoon into it and the water "popped".
*Shrug* Then again, it's Fox News.
I have a book that explains it.
Water doesnt boil in a microwave because normally there isnt anything for bubbles to form on. You can superheat the water past boiling though. I have a picture in a book at my parents house that shows a couple of grains of coffee getting added to the microwaved water and the glass explodes.
Water doesnt boil in a microwave because normally there isnt anything for bubbles to form on. You can superheat the water past boiling though. I have a picture in a book at my parents house that shows a couple of grains of coffee getting added to the microwaved water and the glass explodes.
The special conditions are very easy to reach for Joe Shmoe. If you're careful enough, you can even superheat water on a stove-top. I've done it, and its really cool, once you turn the heat off, the water instantly vaporizes. But while it's superheated, it kind of behaves like mercury.
The water is most likely over 100C, but since you don't see bubbles, you're assuming it's not boiling. Add something to the water and you will see the bubbles.
Legendary
Diamond Member
- Jan 22, 2002
- 7,019
- 1
- 0
Distilled water won't boil in a microwave because there is nothing for the bubbles to form around. Everyone's regular tap water and even filtered water will have something for bubbles to form around, thus letting it boil. Distilled water will superheat.
Whatever you do NEVER put a coconut in the microwave.
It's ok to put lime in the coconut though...
It's ok to put lime in the coconut though...
I thought it was an old wive's tale also until I saw it happen in person. My friend's wife was making tea and she took the cup out of the microwave. As soon as she put the teabag in, the water quickly popped out of the cup. She said that coffee mug does that often.
So it will happen in some containers.
Here's a quick video of superheated water. Instead of forming a nice slow simmer, and then boil, the water heats up well past the normal boiling point until a tiny bubble forms. Then the water violently "pops"
Superheated water popping
Superheated water popping
0roo0roo
No Lifer
- Sep 21, 2002
- 64,795
- 84
- 91
DrPizza
Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
It's pretty easy to super-heat water in a microwave. I had just typed out an entire "how to", but realized that there are enough idiots in here that I could be held liable when one of them causes 2nd degree burns over his hands and face.
Let's just say this: you can find instructions on how to do it on the internet. It's pretty easy to do, and moderately dangerous.
Better is simply slicing a grape nearly in half, folding it, and setting it in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds.
They try to add some facts to the discussion, unfortunately they're misinformed.
Read this:
This is when things can get touchy. If you move the cup around a bit, or drop a teabag into it, or put your spoon in to stir it, or whatever, you can provide the nucleation site the water has been looking for. So it turns from a superheated liquid to a boiling one--quickly. Usually, this will just mean it boils over the top of the cup, in which case you'll only be burned if you happen to be holding it (such as if you took it out of the microwave and jostled it enough to start it going). It could also splatter a bit, just as a pot of boiling water occasionally throws up some scalding drops. But it's not going to "blow up" and throw all the water into your face, as described in the e-mail message. At least, it won't unless you're sitting there with your face an inch away from the water, staring at it (if that's the case, perhaps getting burned isn't your biggest problem).
Then watch the video I posted:
Superheated water popping
I'm sure you can see how you'd get burned, and your face definitely does not need to be only an inch away for that to happen.
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