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RE: H2O Microwave Criticality
This note has some of the earmarks of an urban legend: its anonymous, horrifying, something that happened a relative or a friend, and they "swear to God, it really happened." But, whereas the veracity of this note cannot be assessed, that doesn't mean that the story is completely false - there do appear to be elements of truth to it. The Urban Legends & Folklore page at http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/weekly/aa011900a.htm talks about this particular story that is now circulating through the Internet.
What is an urban legend? See http://urbanlegends.about.com/culture/urbanlegends/library/blbyolix.htm
Bruce Pickett
Seattle, WA
bruce.d.pickett@boeing.com
> ----------
> From: Tad Blanchard[SMTP:Tad.M.Blanchard.1@gsfc.nasa.gov]
> Reply To: radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu
> Sent: Monday, January 24, 2000 1:21 PM
> To: Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: H2O Microwave Criticality
>
> I came across the following and had to post it here for everyone to enjoy:
>
>
> "Subject: Microwaving Water
>
> I received the following from my cousin who works at the CDC in Atlanta.
> It's worth sharing. 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 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 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 cup remained intact until he threw it out
> of his hand but all the water had flew 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 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. 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's exactly what happened: When water boils, bubbles form. We all
> know that. It takes energy to form a bubble and they usually form on rough
> corners because that takes less energy. When I took organic chemistry,
> we'd put "boiling stones" (small, rough piece of calcium carbonate) in
> the bottoms of beakers. This gave "nucleation points" for bubbles to form
> and kept the liquid from overheating (heating a few degrees above the
> boiling point) and "bumping." Because the cup was apparently smooth, there
> were no nucleation points and the water overheated. Shaking the water allowed
> the bubbles to form and it "bumped" with serious results.
>
> Rule: When boiling water in a microwave, use a clear container so you
> can see the bubbles. (I usually use a Pyrex measuring cup.) And if the
> container has scratches all the better. A non-metal object with sharp
> corners in the bottom of the cup would also be helpful."
>
> (HOW MUCH OF THIS IS TRUE??)
>
>
>
> Tad Blanchard NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center
> Sr Health Physics Tech Code 205.9, Greenbelt, MD 20771
> Parallax, Inc Phone: 301-286-9157
> A Member of the OHI Team Fax: 301-286-1618
> mailto:tmblanch@pop200.gsfc.nasa.gov
> http://gsfc-aphrodite.gsfc.nasa.gov/205/205-2/Health/RADPROT.HTM
>
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