Hello
Something has been bugging me ever since I learnt about superheated water in microwaves.
People keep saying that it’s because the surface is too smooth and air bubbles can’t form. But I can’t seem to find an easy to digest information about WHY smoothness prevents bubbles from forming.
I found a video explaining that heating water causes the hydrogen bonds to breaks, which makes the water molecules move about and that’s what causes bubbles. But this explanation doesn’t explain why a rugged surface is necessary in the process :/
​
And I also saw that impurities in the air are necessary for water vapour to form, and that’s how clouds are formed around micro-particles from deserts. How does that work ?
Thanks 😀
In: 1
It’s called nucleation. Simply put, things don’t tend to change phase easily unless you give them a helping hand.
The rough surface allows the molecules of the fluid to organise themselves in a different way, facilitating the phase change.
If you want to understand it more completely it’s worth a google because the mechanics of it are probably quite complex.
Latest Answers