WARNING - H2O can explode

[wlie 0]

I've heard about it and even read about it. Just never thought I'd get to witness it for myself.

It's about feeding time for my son, so I do what I normally do - heat a cup of water in the microwave. Right when the timer beeped, I also heard a PP. Opened the door and water all over the inside.

Had it happened a second later, I might have got scalded good.

Anyway, just wanted to PW.

Gotta go feed my son now.

My other ride is the relative wind.

[ChrisL 2]

I expect it was a case of the cup cracking due to uneven expansion rather than water exploding.

__

My mighty steed

[jjiimmyyt 0]

It is possible to superheat water in microwave. When it receives a knock (open door would be enough) it can then boil over.

"This isn't an iron lung, people. You can actually disconnect and not die." -Dave

[pilotdave 0]

Using distilled water? Usually the impurities in tap water prevent it from superheating like that. It can happen when you stick a spoon or tea bag into microwaved water too. You are lucky it happened when it did.

Dave

[spidermonky 0]

You guys beat me to it!
Yep, it's called flashing. It can happen microwaving a really clean cup filled with pure water. Usually jarring the cup will cause it to vaporize some of the water, resulting in the hot liquid water around it to go flying. Do you have a rotating bottom on the microwave? It probably triggered it when it stopped, you're lucky it didn't do it when you picked it up.

[Fast 0]

Quote

Using distilled water? Usually the impurities in tap water prevent it from superheating like that. It can happen when you stick a spoon or tea bag into microwaved water too. You are lucky it happened when it did.

Dave

Yah, I haven't had it happen with tap water. Though I have done it on purpose with distilled

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

[skydiver30960 0]

Dammit, so now here I am, at home, with nothing to do, an at-the-moment unused microwave, distilled water that I usually use in the espresso machine, and very mischevious thoughts...

Elvisio "idle hands are the devil's playground" Rodriguez

edited because I'm stupid

[n2skdvn 0]

Quote

Dammit, so now here I am, at home, with nothing to do, an at-the-moment unused microwave, distilled water that I usually use in the espresso machine, and very mischevious thoughts...

Elvisio "idle hands are the devil's playground" Rodriguez

edited because I'm stupid

got some aol cd's around???

if my calculations are correct SLINKY + ESCULATOR = EVERLASTING FUN
my site

[bch7773 0]

Quote

got some aol cd's around???

or some grapes if you want even more fun.

MB 3528, RB 1182

[jumper03 0]

Quote

You guys beat me to it!
Yep, it's called flashing. It can happen microwaving a really clean cup filled with pure water. Usually jarring the cup will cause it to vaporize some of the water, resulting in the hot liquid water around it to go flying. Do you have a rotating bottom on the microwave? It probably triggered it when it stopped, you're lucky it didn't do it when you picked it up.

If you really want to get technical
It most often happens in ceramic coffee cups that have really smooth interiors. As the water reaches the boiling point, it wants to bubble, but, there is no where for bubbles to nucleate (why distilled with fewer impurities does it so much easier). When you jar it, you create a nucleation site for a bubble, then another bubble, then another bubble ... etc. I could give you the equations to figure out how fast it will go but they are at the office right now.

To put an end to it - take a piece of sand paper and rough up your cups inside.

Jump

Scars remind us that the past is real

[wlie 0]

And making headlines today Beware: Microwave Eggs Explode

My other ride is the relative wind.

[jakee 1,257]

WARNING: When heated product will be hot!

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[themitchyone 0]

Looks like jumper03 already go to the explanation. I saw this demonstrated on some news program a while back. It's good to bring this to people's attention because some people have been badly burned this way. Glad you weren't injured.

"If the Bible has taught us nothing else, and it hasn't, it's that girls should stick to girl's sports such as hot oil wrestling and foxy boxing." - Homer Simpson

[skydiver30960 0]

BUMP!

Ha ha, here's a funny manifestation of the same problem... many many moons ago a professor told me about a problem that some Canadian lakes were having with acid rain. The acid rain changed the pH enough that nothing could really live in the water, so there was no little buggies floating around and no fish to kick up silt and no plants growing in the water. Well, during the winter the air temperature would get damn cold (official meterological term) and the top layer of water (few inches or so) would get supercooled: it wanted to form to ice, but there was no silt or anything to act to seed the crystallization. Then, some poor hapless duck would come cruising along, decide to rest his wings, swoop in on the water, and as soon as he touched down WHAM! It would be frozen solid in the ice. He said hikers would sometimes be walking along the lake and find ducks completely stuck.

Elvisio "duck pate on the rocks" Rodriguez

[wlie 0]

I hope there are no swoop ponds close by

My other ride is the relative wind.