How can I get water to ovehead in a microwave ?

Question

Now remember that in order to get water to overheat its need to reach a temperature higher that 100C.(212F).
Many people say that it overhead when there is a splash, but I it almost impossible to measure the water while that occurs.

Answer 1

To get the water in a microwave to go above 100C, you need to prevent it from boiling. The process of boiling takes up the heat required to raise its temperature.

To do this, you need distilled or deionized water (removing impurities/particles makes it harder for water to boil). When you microwave the water, it is possible to get it past 100C without causing the water to boil.

Be careful when you do this however, the slightest agitation to the superheated water will cause it to EXPLODE and scald whatever it touches.

Answer 2

Hmm, I would think you'd do this by pressurizing the water. I believe that is the concept behind stove-top pressure cookers.
So, you could take a plastic jar with a screw-top lid, put the water in that with a little air room, and screw the top on TIGHT!

Put it in the microwave and run it until it boils for a little while: longer than the amount of time it normally takes water to boil in the microwave. At this point, the part that is still liquid should be more than 100 degrees C, because the pressure has built up inside the plastic.
I have NOT tried this at home, and would recommend that you be careful of explosions!

Answer 3

I think you're refering to the myth of overheating water that will spontaneously evaporate. This is said to occur when water gets over 100C mark buy doesn't start to evaporate because of the water tension (or something like that).

The reason that I've heard it occurs is because there are no sharp edges for the heat to concentrate on.

My idea would be to get a very smooth container and use some very clean water. Be careful when checking the temperature because the water may spontaneously evaporate and burn you.

Answer 4

Water can be heated to > 100 deg C if air bubbles are absent. This can occur with pure water in containers that have very smooth walls. Once a bubble forms, though (a process called nucleation), boiling occurs very, *very* rapidly.

The effect of heating water to > 100C is called 'superheating' and is quite dangerous.

Answer 5

I think you mean water to SUPERHEAT.

Ok first of all don't do this. Superheated liquids are VERY dangerous. They contain lots of energy and can severly burn you. I'm not going to tell you how to do it in a microwave because i don't believe that would be very responsible of me. Anyway if you have ever taken a pressure cap off a car radiator after it has been running a long time that's the type of liquid state we are talking about.

Answer 6

In order for water to reach a temperature of over 100 deg. C you can Increase pressure- i guess you could seal in a strong container but it could explode.