Why does putting water on a grease fire make it worse?
In: Chemistry
The first thing to understand is that water and oil are immiscible- meaning they can’t mix due to their difference in polarities. Oil wouldn’t be able to bond to water unless the two hydrogen bonds on the oxygen were broken. These are too strong to be broken by the oil. To put it simply, the molecules of water and oil are very different and realized their lives would be better if they went their separate ways.
When the water is poured on the grease fire, the water actually sinks under the grease due to having a higher density, or being more heavy and compact than oil. Now that it is sitting under the grease, the water changes from a liquid to a gas (steam). It turns into steam instantly because water boils at a lower temperature than the oil fire. The resulting steam drags the grease with it and causes a big “uh-oh” because that grease fire is now being pulled into every direction except for the pan.
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