28 Sep
2012
28 Sep
'12
8:04 p.m.
On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 2:38 PM, Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> wrote:
I had an incident a few weeks ago at work - I was heating water for
tea in an ordinary (and somewhat new) ceramic coffee mug. I bumped it
getting it out (the microwave is on a shelf over the sink and above my
eye-level) and it roiled furiously with a whooshing hiss. No major
splashing or injury, but I was a bit startled.
-ethan
I was always
under the impression that that sort of story was an urban
legend. The physics isn't out of the question, I just can't imagine
any container in a household that wouldn't provide a sufficiently
rough surface to nucleate. Surprised to hear it's a thing!
Nope, it's real. It happened to me with a glazed mug about 15 years
ago. I touched the mug and it virtually detonated. Fortunately it
wasn't very full, but it still hurt.