I know what will happen, but WHY does that happen?
Edit… should have proofed before posting
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Water and oil dont mix. Excess water makes the oil bead up to the surface of the water, while its still on fire, since its fuel is not disrupted by the water. This is why is doesnt work and only spreads the fire.
When the water hits the oil, it absorbs the heat and rapidly turns into steam. This process isn’t explosive, but it is rapid enough to fling oil everywhere. Now you have a cloud of water vapor and aerosolized oil, which then immediately catches on fire.
Basically water turns to steam fast enough to turn the flaming oil into a cloud of flames.
when grease catches fire its around 450F/230C, as the water sinks below the grease it will instantly vaporize into steam. the water steam in turn vaporizes the grease into tiny droplets giving more surface area to burst into a bigger flames.
Two properties of oil (grease and oil are basically the same) combined; oil floats on water, and oil burns hotter than the temp. at which water boils.
This means that if you pour water on a grease fire, the water goes *under* the grease, then quickly starts to boil because the grease (and the pan or whatever the fire started in) are very hot. Boiling water bubbles, and the bubbles are also underneath the grease, so as they rise and pop they throw little bits of burning oil around.
You’ve likely experienced something like this if you’ve ever cooked bacon or other meat in a pan, or vegetables in oil in a pan; there’s a bit of water and a bit of grease, and as the water starts to boil off it can fling hot oil onto you as it “pops”.
Dumping water on a grease fire is that, but more violent since it’s much hotter (usually when a non-on-fire pan ‘spatters’ everything is around the boiling point of water, or at least a lot closer than actively burning oil) so more water can boil and faster, and the oil is, well, *on fire*, which means it can spread the fire and do a lot more damage on contact.
Oil floats on water. Water sinks in oil.
When heated, water turns to steam, a gas that has a volume which is much greater than liquid water.
When poured into hot oil, water immediately sinks to the bottom, then begins to boil. The water becomes steam which displaces the oil, often violently, pushing it up out of the vessel and causing the oil to spatter everywhere.
If this oil happens to also be on fire, then fire goes wherever the oil goes.
1. Water and oil don’t mix.
2. Water is heavier than oil, so it sinks to the bottom.
3. Oil burns at a much higher temperature than water’s boiling temperature.
So the water sinks, quickly boils, which causes it to turns to steam, which bubbles upwards, throwing all the burning oil up in the air.
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