Tarantism Posted April 16, 2006 Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 does distilled water get superheated or would it boil? also, does anyone know the blast radious of exploding water? :Exclamati Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay-qu Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 no it would boil as normal, as for the exploding part how is it exploded? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarantism Posted April 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 well....the idea is that when you microwave distilled water it shouldnt boil, it should superheat...i actually took to reasearching this myself after posting this thread, and i found some cool stuff at WIKI. check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superheating http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distilled_water it says that its a myth that you can superheat distilled water and it will explode, but i just want to try it for fun. Turtle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 does distilled water get superheated or would it boil? also, does anyone know the blast radious of exploding water? :hihi: You watchin' MythBusters again Tartan? They did a piece on this using a microwave oven. Distilled water will rise to over 212F without boiling. They dropped in a sugar cube & ka-whoosh! Blast radius for big globs looked about 18" or so, but they had it shielded. They also tried it throwing in a fork. Any contaminant will cause it (the super-heated distilled water) to flash to a boil. Careful with that axe Eugene!;) Queso 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay-qu Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 I was just about to say that there was an episode about this.. The only reason disstilled water wouldnt boil normally is if it had all the oxygen, nitrogen and other gases removed, so then it would not let off as much steam and once it is disturbed alot of this steam gets released - explosively. Im not sure if thats the myth or thats the truth about the matter, but it definitly is the logical progression through my mind ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 I was just about to say that there was an episode about this.. The only reason disstilled water wouldnt boil normally is if it had all the oxygen, nitrogen and other gases removed, so then it would not let off as much steam and once it is disturbed alot of this steam gets released - explosively. Im not sure if thats the myth or thats the truth about the matter, but it definitly is the logical progression through my mind :hihi: You may have it right on the physics, but I don't know & they didn't discuss it. They just did the experiment. They mentioned the word 'contaminent(s)' as the factor making the difference but didn't expound beyond that. A pyrex cup of notmal tap water just slowly boiled away. The distilled water did not boil, no steam, no movement. Until they 'contaminate' it, then it flashed-explosively-throwing out water & releasing steam. They said 'myth true' on the basis that so many microwave ovens are used that it was likely every so often, distilled water is unknowingly gets superheated and 'explodes' when its taken out & contaminated. Course those 2 guys are a couple of chuckle-heads:lol: , but I think they got this one right.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarantism Posted April 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 yes, i do love my mythbusters. some great ideas for dangerous experiments to pass the time ;) . i like that Floyd refence there too :hihi:...but yeah i think taht they said "myth true" but i ahd this itch to try it myself. looks like im off to get some distilled water :hihi: thanks guys, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 but i ahd this itch to try it myself. looks like im off to get some distilled water :hihi: thanks guys, Good Grief & Oh Bother! Wear eye, face, arm, hand...err body protection if you actually do what you should not be trying at home! Good grief.:hihi: ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarantism Posted April 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 haha yes. i actually am wondering...what if, after superheating the distilled water, i used a coathanger to trigger the reaction? would it still blow up (which is the main idea here...)? i mean, if i just tied a few ordinary metal wire coathangers together and then poked it or something...it would virtually eliminate any cause of worry for personell safety (namely, i dont want to die or sustain any severe burns...) thanks again, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay-qu Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 well if someone was to use hot tap water it may be possible that it had been boiled and reboiled a few times in their water heater.. that could remove enough gas for this effect to happen accidently, dangerous stuff. and if you are going to do it i would suggest putting some distance between you and the water, use a long stick! very long - just in case! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgrmdave Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 I would suggest at the very least wearing eye protection, and having your entire body be covered with thick clothing - no bare arms and such. If you can find a way to not be in a direct line with the water it would help too, you could use a mirror to see it clearly (i.e. bend the coat hangers so that you can trigger the boiling from around a corner). Jay-qu 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 haha yes. i actually am wondering...what if, after superheating the distilled water, i used a coathanger to trigger the reaction? would it still blow up (which is the main idea here...)? Judging by their experiment, I'd say yes to the coathanger. As I say, they used a fork in one experiment. (Do not put a fork in the microwave! ) Also, I don't recomend even trying to take the cup out of the micro if you do this. Even opening the door is risky if anything falls into the superheated water during opening. Chuckle heads these guys may be (whichever is Pink!:naughty: ) but they had a lab/workshop environment & plenty o' safety precautions. Cliche as "Don't try this at home" is, good reasons abound for following that addage.:confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay-qu Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 you could use a mirror to see it clearly (i.e. bend the coat hangers so that you can trigger the boiling from around a corner). thats a top idea, I never even thought of that! good one dave :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarantism Posted April 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 hm, great idea pgrmdave! but im not sure how i would accomplish this since turtle is correct in saying that it may even be dangerous to remove the superheated h2o from the microwave...i may just crack the door and then apply pressure to the cup with the coathanger...that could provide a kind of a corner, or at least a partial sheild. i could even angle to coathanger so that i am on the protected side of the microwave door. but would the explosion damage the microwave? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 but would the explosion damage the microwave? It will clean it cleaner than you have seen it in years. It may spray through vent holes in there & seep into the electrical components & short out the oven? It is not a fire explosion mind you. Also, if you don't use very much water, the effect will stay relatively small. :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgrmdave Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 That's a good point Turtle - don't use a lot of water! Start with less than you think you need - you can always add more if you find out later that it wasn't enough. Perhaps a 1/4 cup to begin with, adding 1tbsn each time if the water level gets too low. That should help both with the danger and with the clean-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarantism Posted April 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 great ideas guys...i think im set. its all about the experimentation now...wish me luck...:naughty: thanks again, :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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