Is there a difference between microwaved water and stove boiled water?

I'm a hot-beverage afficianado, and over a period of time I've noticed something odd: Water and other beverages, and perhaps most every thing I might microwave, seems to hold its heat much less effectively than when the same thing is heated through more traditional means. For example, a cup of tea made in the microwave seems to have, at first a much higher temperature, but it seems to cool down much faster. Water boiled through traditional means seems to hold its temperature much better, cooling down slower.

This is purely my observations, so what I want to know is if these are scientifically valid, i.e. , is there a basis in physics due to the way in which molecules are excited in a microwave that accounts for these observations? Asked by promethean 48 months ago Similar questions: difference microwaved water stove boiled Food & Drink > Cooking.

Similar questions: difference microwaved water stove boiled.

Yes, there is a difference, And, the difference creates in one that are not found in the other. Water heated in a pan heats evenly. The heat is applied from the bottom along the one of the surfaces of the cylinder of water.

Natural convextion currents create a stiring action that ensures that the temperature varience is very slight. When water boils the temperature of the water is essentially helt at the boiling point until the boiling process is halted. When water is microwaved, the microwaves affect the water molecules in almost randomly chosen locations in the 3 dimensional volume of the water.

The microwaves waves coming in from many diverse angles and affecting many different points within the volume of water, stimulate the water molecules to vibrate and essential create heat from microscopic friction. However, these points of heat generation are not uniform and therefore the water is heated very quickly and in a very randomn, non uniform way. This lack of uniformity creates hot and cold spots.At any given time the water within the pot on the stove's temerature is very close to being the same for any two points tested.

When the water is microwaved, the lack of organized convextion and the quick, uneven heat cause the water to behave diferently. This effect is most pronounced in a relatively small quanity, something around 8 ounces, give or take a ounce or two. This highly affected quanity of water is essentially the approximate quanity most often heated in microwaves.

You may notice for instance that some of the water may be boiling before all of it is even really hot. The most dramatic and sometimes painful condition occurs when several points in the water are heated to a temperature that is higher than the boiling point so quickly and in such isolated quanties that the water is hot enough to boil but restrained by the pressure coming in from the adjacent coller water. Sometimes when the water is removed quickly and poweder like instant tea of coffee ise added before the water temperature evens out, the super heated cells of water can cause an almost instant boil over.

On the lighter and more dangerous side Sources: Microwave misshaps .

Heat distribution When you heat water on the top of the stove, it heats evenly. When you heat it in a microwave, there will be more energy directed to some parts of the water than others, resulting in uneven heating. I'm sure you have noticed this when you reheat a dish you've taken out of the fridge.

Some of it will be hot enough to burn your tongue, and some will still be cold. Although the laws of thermodynamics dictate that the liquid will reach temperature equilibrium eventually, this doesn't happen instantaneously, and even if the microwave has a carousel, you will have hot and cold regions within the container. But when the temperature does stabilize, it can seem like the liquid cooled off faster.

When our daughter was an infant and drinking from bottles, we were warned not to heat them in the microwave for precisely this reason. You could shake a bit of it out on your wrist and it would seem fine, but some of it would be hot enough to scald. The next time you heat water in the microwave, stir it vigorously with a spoon to speed up the mixing of the hot and cold liquid, and you'll see what I mean.

I frequently reheat coffee in the microwave, then add cream. Stirring equalizes the temperature, and when it is heated to my liking, it stays as hot as it would had I poured it from the pot. Sources: Experience IchtheosaurusRex's Recommendations West Bend 6400 1-Quart Electric Tea Kettle, White Amazon List Price: $24.99 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 12 reviews) Alternative to the nuclear option..

Not really no. It is possible that the microwave had heated the water unevenly in the container. If you taste a hotter part, before the temperature has had time to equalze throughout the container, then when you taste it after equalization, it may seem to have lost heat more quickly.

Stove heated water heats the water more evenly, especially if it has reached the boiling point. Other than that, water holds heat the same, whether it is from a conventional source or a microwave source. They both cause the molecules to rub together.

The temperature of a container must be taken after equilibrium has been achieved, and then the cooling rate should be the same. I hope this helps.

Yes it has to do with ionzation and how the molecules react to things like the radicals that enter the water through the microwave process. My sister who is a tea drinker can even tell the difference in how it tastes. The ions will change due to the variance that the microwave gets the molecules moving faster, quicker..

An illusion: Temperature is temperature from either heat source, but analyzing heat losses is complex. Temperature is temperature, molecular kinetic energy, regardless of heat source (microwave or cooktop), but there are ways one could be cooling faster than the other: 1. Are you sure the two temperatures are the same?

The efficiency and speed of microwave heating could be letting you get the cup hotter than the stovetop (with high heat losses thru the pan and across the high surface area). Even if the pan is boiling, that only shows the temperature at the metal surface; the water itself can be much colder. In contrast, when a cup microwaves to boiling, you are seeing the result of the bulk water itself being very hot (though it may still tend to boil through contact with the rough surface of the cup).

This means a boiling cup from the microwave is probably hotter than the water from a boiling pan. You can control for this by measuring the water temperature in the cup (from each source) with a meat thermometer. 2.

The cup has some significant thermal mass. If you microwaved in it in the microwave, it will already be hot, and so less likely to quickly draw down the water temperature. In contrast, pouring boiling water into a cold cup will lead to it quickly losing a lot of temperature as it heats up the cup.

Unfortunately for your observation, both these effects should lead the microwaved cup to appear to stay hotter longer, not to cool more quickly. I assume you’re comparing the water in equivalent containers (e.g. Both in a same-size cup, ideally of the same cup temperature). There could be some non-uniformity in the heating, but I would think the temperature would mix pretty well, and anyway measuring the temperature would correct for this.

You may also be able to get the cup a bit hotter in the microwave, as the heating isn't being dissipated by steam rising from a pan's hot bottom. Or the quicker heating in the microwave may differentially affect the gas content in the water, with less air in the microwaved cup - I doubt the rate of air absorption to the water is significant, though. Here's a simple test: use uniform temperature cups (e.g. Pour the water from the microwave container/pot into fresh cups of starting same temperature), and then measure the water temperature with an oven thermometer.

Then do it again after five minutes. I'll be they'll be the same. I'll try this also.

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Does the chemical makeup of the water change. Some say pouring microwaved water on a plant will kill it. A Myth?

Just have the water heater and the stove trying to figure how much the bill would be montly.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.