Online Tutorial Task 1

Activity A: “A watched pot never boils”

Photo by John-Mark Smith on Unsplash

“A watched pot never boils” is one of the famous idioms in which it is commonly used to describe when an individual observes what he or she wishes to happen, it seems like the wait is a never-ending process and probably nothing will ever happen in the end.

However, the findings are subject to individual differences in perceptions. In most of the cases, when watching a pot boils, if one actually concentrates his or her attention for five minutes or until it comes to boil then the following things should be noticed which comprise the five senses that include sight, hearing, smell, feeling and taste.

First and foremost, for sight, I saw the vessel began to form cavitation bubbles near the bottom as the water heated up gradually. During the first minute, it was at low heat (slow simmer), there is very little activity in the pot. I could see the wisps of steam and a string of bubble. Gentle bubbling started to emerge when it moved forward to medium-low heat. Next, when it was a medium to medium-high heat (rapid simmer), there were more aggressive bubbling in the pot but the bubbles were fairly small. Rolling boil was the last stage in which there were lots of big bubbles over the whole surface of the liquid. The faint and translucent smoke popped out from the boiling water to the surroundings throughout the boiling process. This is because the boiling water evaporated and turned from the liquid state to vapour (steam). Besides, I also noticed that the windows in my kitchen turned wet and foggy as well through the stage of condensation because the indoor relative humidity is high.

Then, as for hearing, when the cavitation bubbles rose to the surface, they burst and made a faint rumbling sound. A steady rhythm was perceptible towards the beginning and later became almost akin to a hum as well in a monotone pitch.

In addition, there was no perceptible smell. Modern fuels burnt efficiently and had little by way of any waste products which gave out smell while burning. Water commonly has been defined as being odourless, unless it contains any mixed solvents.

Next, for touch, I could feel the heat while placing my hand around the pot of boiling water. It is due to the heat receptor which is located in the dermis. Fingertips have thin epidermis and contain many receptors sensitive to touch thus I could feel the instant pain when I placed my fingers on the pot. Due to the pain receptor located in the epidermis layer, I quickly shoved away my hands. Moreover, while standing next to the stove, I can feel the heat making me sweat especially on my forehead area. The sweat glands in my skin produced more sweat to cool my body since my body temperature slightly rises in order to stabilize my body temperature.

Besides, no taste was perceptible. It was tasteless but I could feel a sensation of burning when I tried to drink it. Just like my fingertips, I shoved away my tongue immediately as soon as I felt the burnt. My tongue was scalded by the hot water and it left a faded white mark on my tongue.

Last but not least, some extra information which I would like to emphasize is when boiling the water, there was a slight sense of impending doom of finality and uncertainty. This may be due to the wait that seems not to end or an existential crisis within myself. Furthermore, through this simple experiment, I also realized how imperative every of my sense is, particularly in aiding my survival as well as being essential in allowing me to enjoy every little experience in my life. The five senses are inextricably connected to our memories and emotions, therefore, they can have a very substantial effect on how we feel.