A young Chinese woman has suffered severe burns on her head after trying a viral hot water trick involving throwing hot water into cold air with the hope of it freezing instantly.
You’ve likely seen this fascinating winter trend on social media: someone steps outside in freezing temperatures and throws a container of boiling water into the air. The cold air is supposed to turn the water into a misty vapor mid-air.
While it looks spectacular, successfully recreating the effect isn’t as simple as it seems. Last week, a young Chinese woman named Jiang Nu discovered this the hard way when her attempt left her with hot water falling onto her head, causing severe burns.
Jiang and her boyfriend were visiting Heilongjiang Province in Northeastern China. One chilly evening, Jiang took a kettle filled with hot water, went outside, and asked her boyfriend to record her attempt at the popular trend. Despite temperatures being -20 degrees Celsius, the water didn’t freeze as expected; instead, some of it splashed onto her 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.
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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.
