In this article I describe an experiment involving the Leidenfrost phenomenon, which is the long lifetime of a water drop when it is deposited on a metal that is much hotter than the boiling point of water. The experiment was carried out with high-school students. The Leidenfrost point is measured and the heat laws are used to estimate the thickness of the vapour layer, d [approximately] 0.06 mm, which prevents the drop from touching the hotplate. (Contains 7 figures.)