Superheated, and it requires some special circumstances.
On Fri, Jul 15, 2011 at 2:03 PM, Stephen A. Lawrence <[email protected]> wrote:
> So here's a cute experiment, done by accident while on vacation.
>
> Take a smooth china mug, and fill it with water.
>
> Stir the water, so it's swirling nicely (if you don't do this only the
> surface will get hot and the experiment probably won't work).
>
> Put it in a microwave on high power for a minute or two. I used 2 minutes,
> but the microwave in question was probably not very high power.
>
> Take it out, stir it *again* so it's swirling nicely, and pop it back into
> the microwave for another minute or two.
>
> Take it out. There may be a few bubbles, but on a good morning, it will
> *not* be boiling, not what most of us mean by boiling, anyway.
>
> Drop a teabag into the cup of water which isn't boiling.
>
> Whoa, nelly -- bubbles galore! Now it's boiling!
>
> Gosh, what was in the cup before I put the teabag in?
>
>
