A young Chinese woman suffered second-degree burns on her head by splashing herself with hot water that she threw into the air on a cold night hoping it would instantly freeze.
You’ve probably seen this Instagramable winter trick before: a person steps out on an extremely cold day and hurls a container full of hot water into the air. The cold temperature causes the water particles to freeze in mid-air, creating a fine mist. It’s definitely cool to watch from the comfort of your warm room, but recreating it is not as easy as you might think. One young Chinese woman named Jiang Nu learned that firsthand last week when she attempted the trick only to have hot water droplets fall on her head, causing second-degree burns.
Photo: YouTube
Jiang had traveled with her boyfriend to Northeastern China’s Heilongjiang Province and, one night, she grabbed an electric kettle full of hot water, stepped out into the cold, and had her partner record her while she attempted a popular trick she had seen online. Although it was a frosty -20 degrees Celsius outside and she flung the kettle in a circular pattern, as she was supposed to in order to get the desired effect, the hot water didn’t freeze. Instead, some of it landed on her exposed head.
In a clip that has since gone viral in China, Jiang can be seen falling to the ground in pain right after the water lands on her head. Her boyfriend rushes to help her and later takes her to a local hospital for treatment. Luckily, Jiang was smart enough to apply a cold compress to her head to prevent further damage, but she still suffered second-degree burns.
The hospital dismissed the young woman after treating her wounds with burn cream, so the very next night, Jiang Nu attempted the hot-water-to-ice trick again. However, this time around she wore a thick hood to protect her head, so even though she failed again, she didn’t suffer any more burns.
Apparently, Jiang didn’t know that the hot water doesn’t freeze instantly but rather forms water vapor when splashed into the air. So if you’re thinking of trying it yourself, maybe don’t throw the water over your head.
Oh, and keep in mind that temperatures have to be extremely low, preferably around -30 degrees Celsius, to obtain the impressive visual effect of frozen vapor. It’s the kind of thing worth trying in the coldest place on Earth.
