Reactions that heat up water instantly

Ask questions about projects relating to: aerodynamics or hydrodynamics, astronomy, chemistry, electricity, electronics, physics, or engineering

Moderators: kgudger, bfinio, MadelineB, Moderators

Locked
jsjohnson09
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2016 6:20 am
Occupation: Student

Reactions that heat up water instantly

Post by jsjohnson09 »

I was wondering if there is a way to instantly heat up water to about 200 degrees? To be more specific if there is a chemical that reacts to water or through a neutral oxidation reaction that would achieve this result.
donnahardy2
Former Expert
Posts: 2671
Joined: Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:45 pm

Re: Reactions that heat up water instantly

Post by donnahardy2 »

Hi,

Welcome to science buddies!

Are you doing a science fair project? This is an interesting and unique topic.

One quick way to heat water is with a tankless water heater. One possible project would be to design a better water heater and compare results with a standard unit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tankless_water_heating

An alternative would be to use an exothermic reaction and transfer the heat to water. There might be some safety concerns about using an exothermic reaction for a science project, but if you will let me know what you are thinking about, perhaps I can suggest something.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exothermic_reaction

Why do you need to heat the water so quickly?

Donna Hardy
jsjohnson09
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2016 6:20 am
Occupation: Student

Re: Reactions that heat up water instantly

Post by jsjohnson09 »

I was thinking for the project, of a safe faster way to heat up foods with some type of reaction that would take seconds without the use of traditional means such as boiling water using a pot. I was interested in the idea of somehow instantly heating up foods if out in the wildness perhaps.
donnahardy2
Former Expert
Posts: 2671
Joined: Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:45 pm

Re: Reactions that heat up water instantly

Post by donnahardy2 »

Hi jsjohnson09,

This is a great idea for a science project. To heat something in the wilderness, you need something that would be light to carry, environmentally friendly, and possibly reusable. How quick do you think it needs to be? How hot do you want the food to be?

The Wikipedia article describes the chemicals used to produce exothermic reactions for hand warmers. Perhaps you could use one of these chemistries to adapt for heating food:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_warmer

Another approach would be to use solar energy for heating food, although this would not be instantaneous. Here is a project from this website that you might be able to adapt.

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p018.shtml

Here are a couple of other Science Buddies projects that you might be able to adapt also:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... #materials

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p033.shtml

Please review these ideas and think about what you want to do. For the science fair, you need to do one controlled experiment, so possibly you could use the original method as your control, and then use another design or two to test for heating food.

It might be helpful to refer to the science fair project guide link below; you are on the background research plan at this point. You need to do as much background reading as possible so you can devise a new method for heating food. You want to find scientific references on the topic to get ideas for your project.

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ndex.shtml

Please let me know if you have any questions. When is your project due?

Donna
jsjohnson09
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2016 6:20 am
Occupation: Student

Re: Reactions that heat up water instantly

Post by jsjohnson09 »

Thank you this project is due the end of May. I'm looking forward to this project thank you for your help I really appreciate it.
donnahardy2
Former Expert
Posts: 2671
Joined: Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:45 pm

Re: Reactions that heat up water instantly

Post by donnahardy2 »

If this due at the end of May, you have time to do a really great project. Be sure to allow enough time to repeat your experiment twice; this always impresses the science fair judges as it confirms your results are reproducible.

Please post again if you have more questions.


Donna
Locked

Return to “Grades 9-12: Physical Science”