Superheating water can absolutely fuck you up. Steam is like 700 times less dense than water so what happens is a steam bubble forms inside the superheated water at a nucleation point and explodes the water out of the cup. It might not splash out every time but it happens often enough to make superheating water extremely dangerous.
The easiest way to get it to happen is using distilled water that you let sit in a cup overnight in the microwave. That gives the cup time to off gas the O2 that is diffused in the water. You don’t even really need distilled water in that case.
The big problem people had was leaving their cup of water for morning tea in the microwave overnight. This led to degassed water in the morning more likely leading to a superheated scalding when you put the teabag in. Once more people were aware of this problem it became less likely to happen.
Superheating water can absolutely fuck you up. Steam is like 700 times less dense than water so what happens is a steam bubble forms inside the superheated water at a nucleation point and explodes the water out of the cup. It might not splash out every time but it happens often enough to make superheating water extremely dangerous.
The first time I heard about superheating in the microwave was in the mid 80’s.
We tried (as dumbass kids do) to try to do it. Repeatedly.
It takes a pristine container and a lot of heating.
Distilled water works best, because it lacks minerals (fewer nucleation sites).
The risk is waaaay overblown. I boil water in the microwave almost every day, and haven’t superheated it since trying to do it back in the 80’s.
The easiest way to get it to happen is using distilled water that you let sit in a cup overnight in the microwave. That gives the cup time to off gas the O2 that is diffused in the water. You don’t even really need distilled water in that case.
The big problem people had was leaving their cup of water for morning tea in the microwave overnight. This led to degassed water in the morning more likely leading to a superheated scalding when you put the teabag in. Once more people were aware of this problem it became less likely to happen.