Why do people say a watched pan never boils?

Question

Yesterday I decided to put this theory to the test. I filled a large pan up to the brim and put it on the stove, lit it and stared intently - not even blinking (just to make sure).

Now I'll concede that it did seem to take an awfully long time but I can assure you that it did start boiling. I mean who makes these sayings up?

Answer 1

Don't be such a silly lad. It's a WASHED pan that never boils. Just brush up on you kitchen hygiene and Bob as they say, will be you uncle.

Answer 2

Yes it will eventually start to boil. It just seem to take longer when watched. It's like watching a clock and you're waiting for a specific time. The closer you watch the clock the slower time seems to pass. In other words, get your mind on something else and time seems to pass much faster.

Answer 3

Basically because when you watch it, waiting, your sense of time if slowed down. But when you kill time by doing something else time flys. So When you're watching the pan, it feels like it never boils, but when you're not, it seems to boil too soon.

Answer 4

That's exactly what it means, it seems to take longer to boil when you just sit there and watch it as opposed to walking away and coming back to find it already boiling. Check out this website it's full of sayings, cliche's etc and their meaning!

Answer 5

Because any comments about clock watching break down into puns, watch/clock, or just sound dumb. try it and you get stuff like "a clocked watch never tocks" or "a watched clock never ticks" or equally inane aphorisms.
And every body knows about the time dilation effects of boiling water, so it is easy to make it sound significant.

"Lost time is never found again," (Benjamin Franklin)

Answer 6

This saying usually applies to boiling milk. It seems to take forever but the minute you turn your back it boils over.

Answer 7

It was just a saying used in the early days of telephone, to get young girls to stop standing by the telephone, waiting for it to ring, with there heart throb at the other end of the line.

Answer 8

I think the idea is that if you stand there and watch the water until it boils, that it feels like a lifetime.

Answer 9

it means if you watch it it will seem to take longer. if you leave it it will almost certainly boil over , even if you only leave it for a short while. just that things you are waiting for seem to take longer to happen

Answer 10

I was just conducting an experiment on hypercondenser molecule refraction when I came across your question and had to pause...but now I'm bored again.