Boiling Water in a Plastic Water Bottle

[Art …]

ok, yes, I do watch TV on occassion.

On a recent episode of "Man, Woman, Wild" , the lost and stranded couple actually purified their water by boiling it in a used plastic (PET) water bottle over an open flame.
Bottle did not melt, water boiled inside.
The scientific explanation sort of made sense … but … has anyone else actually tried this.
Does it work ?
Need to be really careful ?

[Adam Kramer]

it works. you can even boil water in a paper cup if careful. the heat gets transferred directly to the water. any part of the cup/plastic not touching water will melt though.

Because paper doesn’t catch fire until around 500 degrees Fahrenheit, and water boils at 212 degrees fahrenheit, the paper will keep transferring the heat to the water as it boils.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

It works…but definitely something only for survival.

[Eric Lundquist]

I've never heard or seen someone do this using a plastic (PET) container. In scouts we would use wax paper cups filled with water to hard boil eggs. Trick is that the cup will only burn to the level of the water inside. I always thought it had something to do with the wax but maybe it was only the water.

[todd]

Yep. Tried it for kicks w/ a plastic bottle….it works – even on a big magnolia leaf!

Do you need to be careful? Definitely. Tough to grab if not thought out beforehand!!! As for the magnolia leaf – no way to grab it without spilling!!.

Todd

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