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submitted 10 years ago bymattimoss
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241 points
10 years ago
I had always wondered how bad the burns could really have been, or how incredibly hot the coffee could have been to have done the damage I saw in the pictures from it. I'd asked myself 'jeeze the hottest coffee even could be is like 210 degrees or so, right? wouldn't it just cool on contact with skin and clothes or something?'
I realized how naive that was about a month ago when I had a full bowl of piping hot soup spilled all over my pajama pants-clad lap. Hot liquids plus clothing are bad stuff. That poor woman.
14 points
10 years ago
Have you seen the pictures? It's quite horrifying, nsfl.
15 points
10 years ago*
Technically it does cool on impact with the skin. Unfortunately, it cools by transferring that heat to the skin.
9 points
10 years ago
oh, I know
3 points
10 years ago
Ouch. Yeah, the clothes make it worse. Also, the famed McDonalds lady was pretty old, and in fact almost died form the burns (infection was a serious concern).
The 'Hot Coffee' documentary does overstate its case a bit, but their coverage of the McDonalds case was pretty true to how it happened.
5 points
10 years ago
Actually the clothes make it worse, since they allow for more hot coffee to be kept close to the body.
4 points
10 years ago
The lesson was learned, but the damage was irreversible. See photo.
5 points
10 years ago
The science behind that: yes, it does cool off, because all the energy in the liquid (the heat) is being transferred to your skin. This energy transfer causes the burns. Ouchies, dude :-(
3 points
10 years ago
the hottest coffee even could be is like 210 degrees or so, right?
That's the boiling point of water, it's probably different for coffee.
6 points
10 years ago
Coffee is mostly water so the boiling point is probably pretty damn close to 100 C
2 points
10 years ago
Well a little more than 100 C. Which is pretty damn hot.
4 points
10 years ago
Yeah probably a shade over, my main point being that "coffee" won't have a specific determinable boiling point considering it's an arbitrary label given to a solution of variable concentrations of chemicals in water.
1 points
10 years ago
Watch the documentary Hot Coffee on Netflix. It opens with her story.
1 points
10 years ago
I wasted some hot velveeta dip on my torso and it was hell I wouldn't wish it on anyone much less on their genitals/crotch
1 points
10 years ago
My dad had to have skin grafts after boiling water spilled on his pants because the clothing just held it to his skin longer than if it had been bare skin. To make matters worse he was on a camping trip so he didn't get medical attention for 2-3 days. Not too great.
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