Message-ID: <23065739.1075856439252.JavaMail.evans@thyme> Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 03:23:00 -0700 (PDT) From: vince.kaminski@enron.com To: ludkam@aol.com, vincek@leland.stanford.edu Subject: Boiling Water in the Microwave Oven Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-From: Vince J Kaminski X-To: ludkam@aol.com, vincek@leland.Stanford.edu X-cc: X-bcc: X-Folder: \Vincent_Kaminski_Jun2001_3\Notes Folders\Sent X-Origin: Kaminski-V X-FileName: vkamins.nsf ---------------------- Forwarded by Vince J Kaminski/HOU/ECT on 04/24/2001 10:22 AM --------------------------- Youyi Feng@ENRON 04/24/2001 09:50 AM To: Vince J Kaminski/HOU/ECT@ECT, Stinson Gibner/HOU/ECT@ECT, Pinnamaneni Krishnarao/HOU/ECT@ECT, Vasant Shanbhogue/HOU/ECT@ECT, Mike A Roberts/HOU/ECT@ECT, Sandeep Kohli/ENRON_DEVELOPMENT@ENRON_DEVELOPMENT, Joseph Hrgovcic/HOU/ECT@ECT, Tanya Tamarchenko/HOU/ECT@ECT, Zimin Lu/HOU/ECT@ECT, Maureen Raymond/HOU/ECT@ECT, Martin Lin/HOU/ECT@ECT, Osman Sezgen/HOU/EES@EES, Paulo Issler/HOU/ECT@ECT, Amitava Dhar/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Alex Huang/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Kevin G Moore/HOU/ECT@ECT, William Smith/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Jose Marquez/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Chonawee Supatgiat/Corp/Enron@Enron, Tom Halliburton/Corp/Enron@Enron, Elena Chilkina/Corp/Enron@Enron, Sevil Yaman/Corp/Enron@Enron, Sofya Tamarchenko/NA/Enron@Enron, Bob Lee/NA/Enron@Enron, Gwyn Koepke/NA/Enron@Enron, Shirley Crenshaw/HOU/ECT@ECT, Youyi Feng/NA/Enron@Enron, Praveen Mellacheruvu/HOU/EES@EES, Stephen Bennett/NA/Enron@ENRON, Roman Zadorozhny/HOU/EES@EES, Lance Cunningham/NA/Enron@ENRON, Leann Walton/NA/Enron@ENRON, Shane Green/HOU/EES@EES, Seksan Kiatsupaibul/HOU/EES@EES, Kate Lucas/HOU/ECT@ECT, Nelson Neale/NA/Enron@Enron, Rabi De/NA/Enron@ENRON, Kenneth Parkhill/NA/Enron@ENRON, Jaesoo Lew/NA/Enron@ENRON, Jason Sokolov/HOU/ECT@ECT, Steve Bigalow/NA/Enron@Enron, Tom Barkley/NA/Enron@Enron, Rakesh Bharati/NA/Enron@Enron, wnarongw@enron.com, iris.mack@enron.com, Mitra Mujica/ENRON@enronXgate, Anguel Grigorov/HOU/EES@EES, Kenneth Deng/HOU/EES@EES, Dayne Zimmerman/HOU/EES@EES cc: Subject: Boiling Water in the Microwave Oven Dear Friends, The following message may give you of a warnning for cautious use of microwaves. Youyi ---------------------- Forwarded by Youyi Feng/NA/Enron on 04/24/2001 09:47 AM --------------------------- From: Jeff Sung/ENRON@enronXgate on 04/23/2001 06:09 PM To: Martin_Wang@eogresources.com@SMTP@enronXgate, Wayne Feng/ENRON@enronXgate, Youyi Feng/NA/Enron@Enron cc: Subject: Boiling Water in the Microwave Oven >>FW: Boiling Water in the Microwave Oven> >Boiling Water in Microwave >> > > > >> > > >This is scary and I know most of you do this: >> > > > >> > > >I feel that the following is information that any >> > > >one who uses a microwave oven to heat water should be >> > > >made aware of. >> > > >My 26-year old son 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 told me he wanted to bring the water to a >> > > >boil. When the timer shut the oven off, he removed he >> > > >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 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 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 is what our local science teacher had 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, 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 >> > > >that 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. >> > > > >> > > >General Electrics response: >> > > > >> > > >Please include the following line in all replies. >> > > >Tracking number: AT20001114_0000000135 >> > > > >> > > > >> > > >Thanks for contacting us, Mr. Williams. 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. >> > > > >> > > >X-Mozilla-Status: 0009=+0>I hope this helps. Should you need any >> > > further >> > > >assistance, please contact us. >> >> >> >> >> >>