Water Is Out To Get You!!!

Factual Questions
1

I got this from a friend of mine, and it’s not like I think it could ever happen, but better safe than sorry. So, is there anyone out there who can refute this?

Subject: HEATING WATER in MICROWAVE
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2001 07:49:48 -0800

PLEASE READ - HEATING WATER in MICROWAVE

I feel that the following is information that any one who uses a microwave oven to heat water should be made aware of.

>About five days ago, my 26 year old son decided to have a cup of instant coffee. He took a cup of water and put it inthe 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 cupremained intact until he threw it out of his hand, but all the water had flown out into his face due to the buildup 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 afairly 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 tea kettle.

Please pass this information on to friends and family.
Here is what a science teacher has 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. 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 that has built up, the liquid does not boil, and the liquid continues to heat well past its boiling point. What usually happens then 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.

" Please pass this on to everyone you know, it could save a lot of pain and suffering."

2

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmicroboil.html

3

The story is an urban legend, as clearly debunked by Cecil.

However, I will add a warning to those people who might have an extremely early model of Amana microwave ovens. Those early models have about 10x the power of current microwave ovens. I went over to a friend’s house where they had one, and I microwaved a cup of water for coffee, setting it to the usual 4 minutes that it takes in modern microwaves like the one I own. At about 30 seconds, I heard a big WHOOSH and looked inside the microwave, and there was no water left in the cup, it had explosively boiled out of the cup and sprayed all over the inside of the oven. But then, if you have one of these ovens, you probably know all about this problem.

I did see a story on the national news, claiming several people had been injured by exploding eggs, when they tried to hard-boil eggs in a microwave. Do NOT cook hard boiled eggs in a microwave. It even says not to do this, right in every microwave cookbook I ever saw. You just can’t cook ANYTHING in a sealed container (like an eggshell even). Even regular eggs tend to pop and spray hot debris if you don’t puncture the yolk’s membrane. Just don’t do it, microwave eggs taste rubbery anyway.