Yow! i stand corrected(reference: CRC handbook). hes right, dissolved stuff raises the BP. so the boilover then is principally caused by nucleation on the added ingredients, and actually the boiling point is rising during the explosion. So the boilover phenom is carried by the nucleation. hmm. now im thinking that the blow-open-the- oven eruptions are caused when the mechanical vibration of the fan causes nucleation at the bottom of the container, which propagates upwards constrained by the sides of the vessel. this could certainly be a bigger mess than the adding-sugar style of eruption that goes from the top down. alice > > yes. salt lowers the boiling point. so does sugar. this > > Hmm. I seem to remember two sets of three words each that talk about such > stuff: > > 1) Freezing point depression > 2) Boiling point elevation > > That is, salt water would seem to boil at a higher temperature than pure > water. Is there something special about water? > > Who out there is a chem. geek? > -- http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic: [PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads