Spilling boiling water can be dangerous. (March 2009) From a friend: This is true - I checked with Snopes. As an educator, Coach Nick has become known as the Trainer of Trainers. Microwaving Water to Heat it Up ... Fortunately, severe superheating is much less common because defects, dirt, or other impurities usually help the water boil before it becomes truly dangerous. 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. That’s because, like all electromagnetic waves, microwaves are emitted and absorbed as particles called “photons.” The energy in a microwave photon is so tiny that it can’t cause any chemical rearrangement in a molecule. Your email address will not be published. Quickly adding a powder, such as instant coffee (or sometimes even an object to stir it). i love learning something new. For example, when you are sterilizing jars you pour a little water in them. Also my colleague said he watched a documentary on this. JavaScript is disabled. 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). Any differences reported in the literature are minimal.” (21), – A 2010 study published in the Journal of Food Biochemistry looked at the effect of microwave, boiling and pressure cooking on total antioxidant capacity and total phenolics content of seven vegetables: carrot, cauliflower, pea, potato, spinach, Swiss chard and tomato.The researchers observed that all three cooking methods cause some loss to phenolic compounds, however, microwaving and pressure cooking is less detrimental to nutrients than boiling. Before approving a container, the FDA conducts tests to make sure that it doesn’t leak unsafe amounts of any substance into food. Where you can have an issue is that a microwave deposits energy (heat) directly in the water, making it possible to superheat the water. Microwave energy also decreases dramatically as you move away from the source of radiation. When water reaches the boiling point, the water molecules need to start joining arms with other water molecules in order to create the bubble of vapor that we see as boiling. (7). (8), – Domestic microwaves do leak some radiation, which the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) allows for because they are far below the level known to harm people. Water in a microwave can be dangerous-Truth! The difficult thing can get simple if you follow these steps: Now you can make tea or coffee or use the water for any other purposes. Looks like some strange special effect. It is for this reality that we don’t put any weight behind these claims, and remain very skeptical of anyone who repeats these claims.