this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2024
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[–] Barx@hexbear.net 3 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Chemically yes, physically no. Microwaved water is more buoyant because it has a heat gradient and rarely boils properly. It tends to get superheated and explode rather than boiling.

This is why tea bags float on top of microwaved water but not boiled water.

[–] Jyek@sh.itjust.works 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Tea bags float in my kettle heated water as well. And for the 27 years I lived without a kettle and microwaved my water (maybe 2-3 times a week) I have never even once seen water get superheated and explode.

[–] englislanguage@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 5 months ago

This. In the microwave, water is heated from top and sides.

In a kettle, it is heated from the bottom. With warm water rising to the top and cold water sinking to the bottom, the water will circulate to evenly distribute heat. This is the main benefit of the kettle.

[–] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I thought nearly any trace of minerals essentially reduced the likelihood of superheating down to near zero?

[–] UnityDevice@startrek.website 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

They do, it's pretty hard to get normal water to superheat, so OP's use of the phrase "tends to" is definitely misplaced. IIRC the MythBusters did a segment on that and they used distilled water. I think also re-boiling water might increase the odds of it happening, but I'm not sure.

[–] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 months ago

Cool thanks for the confirmation :)