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My Cup Boileth Over!

Dateline: 01/26/00

By David Emery

Never let it be said that kitchen appliances can't generate controversy! What follows is just a small sampling of the more than 40 responses we received to last week's article, "Can Microwaved Water Explode?"

Reactions ranged from incredulous to adamantly certain the phenomenon occurs. Most respondents offered personal anecdotes to prove their point, with a few even reporting minor injuries. Skeptics were in the minority.

Without further ado, here's what they had to say...

"I personally witnessed an event..."
Rich writes:  I personally witnessed an event about a year ago. A coworker was standing next to me, and placed a coated coffee cup with 6 oz. of water into a microwave and heated it for (unknown) minutes. Upon removing the cup from the microwave, the water "completely evaporated" in an explosive manner. The whole office was talking about it all morning. Not a drop of water was left in the cup. She was quite shaken by the event, and we all found it quite amazing, each speculating on the possible causes.

Since the individual was a very clean type of person, we speculated that the water had boiled and there was no place in the cup where the tension was broken, usually offered by the pores of the cup (it was a coated cup) or by dirt/grime left in the cup (she was a clean freak). We recommended that in the future she might want to not do such a good job cleaning out her cup.

"Was he leaning over the cup?"
Cora writes:  Re: Exploding Water Myth? ...HOW did it explode IN HIS FACE? Was he leaning over the cup? So MUCH of that still makes me think it happened in a college town with college students with too few classes and too much time on their hands to do stuff like this! PROBABLY exploded IN the microwave and then... gee, gosh, what if I had just picked it up, etc, etc.

"The water literally exploded out of the cup"
Mike writes:  Not common? No/few reported cases? How are these things going to be reported, and to whom? Is there a national toll-free number for people to call? If there was, I would have called it, because IT HAPPENED TO ME!

I was boiling about two cups of water for tea in my microwave in a clear Pyrex-type measuring cup, and when I didn't see it boiling, cranked up the microwave for another few minutes. I somewhat absent-mindedly did this SEVERAL TIMES, and when it never boiled, figured there must be something wrong with the oven. But when I opened the door, I could tell there was a lot of heat. Thankfully, it crossed my mind that I should be cautious, and reached in for the cup with my face away from the door, because the water literally exploded out of the cup. It instantly covered from half of my hand to midway up my upper arm -- and I'm six and a a half feet tall! Only a few drops of water were left in the cup.

I called the emergency room, I called the Optim Nurse Line, and I called a friend who I knew had an aloe vera plant. I ended up self-treating with fresh-squeezed aloe juice several times a day, followed with clean bandages, but it was very painful for quite a while. I ended up with just a little blistering, and a reddish tint that faded over a few months.

I'm sure that my experience was not "reported." In fact, I didn't talk about it much, because it was so weird and unbelievable. Some people looked at me like they weren't sure they believed me, so I shut up. I'm very glad that I ran across the article, so that I can print it and show them.

"I deliberately superheat water to impress people"
Bob writes:  I deliberately superheat water in the microwave all the time to impress people. You remove the turntable and put an inverted bowl over the rotating center. Then put a tapered container of water on top. It works better in tapered containers and I don't know why. Keep in mind that many 'waves don't have turntables. It will heat to almost three hundred degrees sometimes, depending on luck and how fast you get the thermometer in place. Wear gloves for this display! The description of superheating you gave sounds right – heard that theory relating to super cooling water also. Did the cooling trick in chemistry class thirty years ago. A drop of ice hits the water and the whole block solidifies suddenly. Can't remember how we cooled the water so evenly. Dry ice, I think.

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