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 w! as 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 f! or 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.

I don't think I've ever microwaved water for more than 30 seconds myself

never microwave a single grape with a matchstick dug into it

Don't microwave jawbreakers, either. They tested that theory on Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel.

Thanks for posting this! My lazy ass always microwaves my water for tea! I'll never do it again.

http://www.snopes.com/sci...rowave.asp

Verdict: "True, but rare"
[Edited 7/20/05 11:06am]

TMPletz said:

WHat happened?

yamomma said:

I knew someone that had this happen to them. Quite freaky.

thescandalouslife said:

30 - 1 min is OK...This happens to fools who put it in the micro much too long.

Just do it in increments of time.

Other things you shouldn't microwave beings we are on the subject

Barbie doll heads
Marshmellows
Forks
Good China
Your old cell phone
Orange Peels
Peeps

superspaceboy said:

The inside became molten while the outside retained its hard shell, and when bitten into it exploded the superheated liquid everywhere.

yamomma said:

I've never microwaved water - I always assumed that the microwave would also heat up the cup, and it's the contents I want hot, not the cup.

I have, however, microwaved an egg just to see what would happen.
Of course, I knew exactly what would happen.
This turned out to be so much fun (apart from the microwave cleanup operation afterwards) that I did it several times.
I even managed to stop the microwave on one occasion just as the egg was beginning to wobble and about to explode. 27 seconds.

I saw them microwave a tear gas grenade on that Reno police programme. But of course, that wasn't real.

superspaceboy said:

But now I'm too scared.

Marshmallo Peeps are cool to see microwaved!

superspaceboy said:

They are very cool all of the objects listed are very cool. The mess afterwards if highly uncool though.

If you want to dispose of CDs or DVDs and don't want the information on the disks retrievable by anyone, try microwaving them. The metal on the disk fractures with a cool effect of electricity running along the surface. They showed this technique a while back on "Screen Savers" on TechTV.

StaticDeth said:

I know some artists that video taped Peeps surrounded by a Chocolate Bunny being microwaved as an art project. It was cool to watch as the plate spun around.

The only issue is that it was a very stinky art project.

45 seconds tops does thetrick.

How long did the fuckhead leave the water in there for???

StaticDeth said:

Microwaved marshmellows are yummy! To avoid the mess, just cook them on a plate.

microwaved water tastes icky anyway. go with the kettle.

My mom is trying to kill me , kidding. She makes me boil her water in the microwave for three minutes.

They showed this superheating phenomenon here a couple of years ago on A Current Affair. It was a bit scary when the water bubbled up all of a sudden.

Anxiety said:

Okay, Grandma!

Kettle's are totally gay.

ReturnOfDOOK said:

Anxiety said:

yamomma said

Yeah, I always heat mine for like two minutes. I guess it depends on your microwave too, some heat quicker than others. What about that Uncle Ben's rice....it has microwave instructions. You can microwave water for that for 10 minutes, as long as it's in a microwave safe containner.

http://www.snopes.com/sci...rowave.asp

yamomma said:

i did it for like 5mins yesterday 4reals....2 cups