One of the last calls I had yesterday was from a woman who was just a *bit* freaked out. Here's what happened....
Me: Thank you for calling <company>, this is me, how can I help you?
Lady: I was heating some water in my microwave and it exploded!
Me: Um... the microwave or the water? And are you all right?
Lady: The water. I had a cup of water in there and now there's less than a quarter of a cup left. It sounded like a bomb going off, it just exploded all of a sudden! *somewhere in that response she did assure me that she hadn't been hurt, the microwave door had been closed when it blew up*
Me: *thinking: Yep, superheated water will do that* Well, I'm glad you're ok. Can you tell me how long you had the water heating?
Lady: I put it in there for 3 minutes, and it stopped and I turned it on for another minute and then it exploded.
Me: *nodding to myself* Ah, I see ma'am. What just happened is a phenomenon called superheating. Sometimes when you heat water or other liquids in a microwave, they can get boiling hot, but not bubble. Then, when they get moved or something put in them, it can 'tip the balance' as it were, and they bubble very suddenly, sometimes explosively.
Lady: *still sort of babbling, poor woman had obviously been scared half out of her wits, and no wonder* Yes, it exploded! There's water all over inside the microwave and just a little bit left in the cup.
*Several minutes of soothing her down and assuring her that in all likelyhood no permanent damage was done to the machine and instructions to unplug it, wipe out the inside thoroughly and leave it standing unplugged with the door open for a day or so, and instructing her on how to boil water in her microwave so it doesn't explode again*
She wasn't the least bit sucky, and was in fact very relieved when I was able to tell her just what had happened. Maybe I'm a bad person, but I found the situation somewhat amusing (after I knew she hadn't been hurt); things like superheating (and supercooling for that matter) frequently take people so utterly by surprise when they're encountered.
Me: Thank you for calling <company>, this is me, how can I help you?
Lady: I was heating some water in my microwave and it exploded!
Me: Um... the microwave or the water? And are you all right?
Lady: The water. I had a cup of water in there and now there's less than a quarter of a cup left. It sounded like a bomb going off, it just exploded all of a sudden! *somewhere in that response she did assure me that she hadn't been hurt, the microwave door had been closed when it blew up*
Me: *thinking: Yep, superheated water will do that* Well, I'm glad you're ok. Can you tell me how long you had the water heating?
Lady: I put it in there for 3 minutes, and it stopped and I turned it on for another minute and then it exploded.
Me: *nodding to myself* Ah, I see ma'am. What just happened is a phenomenon called superheating. Sometimes when you heat water or other liquids in a microwave, they can get boiling hot, but not bubble. Then, when they get moved or something put in them, it can 'tip the balance' as it were, and they bubble very suddenly, sometimes explosively.
Lady: *still sort of babbling, poor woman had obviously been scared half out of her wits, and no wonder* Yes, it exploded! There's water all over inside the microwave and just a little bit left in the cup.
*Several minutes of soothing her down and assuring her that in all likelyhood no permanent damage was done to the machine and instructions to unplug it, wipe out the inside thoroughly and leave it standing unplugged with the door open for a day or so, and instructing her on how to boil water in her microwave so it doesn't explode again*
She wasn't the least bit sucky, and was in fact very relieved when I was able to tell her just what had happened. Maybe I'm a bad person, but I found the situation somewhat amusing (after I knew she hadn't been hurt); things like superheating (and supercooling for that matter) frequently take people so utterly by surprise when they're encountered.
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