From: RMarks
Sent:
To: undisclosed
Subject: [Fwd:
WATER IN MICROWAVE]
(I did not know this, did you?)
A 26-year old man 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 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
suddenly 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 a
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.,
(nothing metal).
It is however a much safer choice to boil the water
in a tea
kettle.
General Electric's Response:
Thanks for contacting us, I will be happy to assist
you. The e-mail
that you received is
correct. Microwaved 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
tea bag 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.
Here is what our local science teacher had to say on
the matter:
"Thanks for the microwave warning. I have seen this
happen before. It
is caused by a phenomenon known
as super heating. It can occur
anytime water is heated and will
particularly occur if the vessel
that the water is heated in is
new, or when heating a small amount of
water (less than half a cup).
What happens is that the water heats faster than
the vapor bubbles
can form. If the cup is
very new then it is unlikely to have small
surface scratches inside
it that provide a place for the bubbles to
form. As the bubbles
cannot form and release some of the heat has
built up, the liquid does
not boil, and the liquid continues to heat
up well past its boiling
point.
What then usually happens is that the liquid is
bumped or jarred,
which is just enough of a shock
to cause the bubbles to rapidly form
and expel the hot liquid. The
rapid formation of bubbles is also why
a carbonated beverage spews when
opened after having been shaken."
If you pass this on you could very well save
someone from a lot of
pain and suffering.