Question:
How do microwave ovens heat up food?

The Answer:

I'm tempted to say this is *magic* and take my show on the
road cooking food for kids' birthday parties. But I haven't
perfected balloon animals yet, so I'll tell you the real
deal on this one as long as you promise not to give away
the secret to the trick.

The special ingredient in a microwave oven is an electron
tube called a magnetron. The magnetron generates super-high
frequency radiation, which is scattered through the chamber
by a special fan called a "stirrer." Radiation penetrates
the food and makes its molecules vibrate rapidly against
each other. Doing the forbidden dance long enough causes
friction between the molecules, and friction causes heat.

(Main Source: THE COLLEGE OF OBSCURE KNOWLEDGE By Jim
Marbles)

READERS ASK FOR MORE.

Yesterday's mailing explained that microwave ovens heat
food by vibrating molecules against each other. Many
readers thought the answer should have been more precise.
They emailed to say that not all molecules are vibrated,
only POLAR molecules.

They're right. It wasn't included because this mailing
isn't meant to be a daily science textbook. It's hard
enough to answer a new question every day.

But as long as you brought it up, here's another piece of
microwave trivia. Ever wondered why microwaves don't heat
your food containers? It's because containers are usually
made of plastic or other substances that don't contain
water or other POLAR molecules.

[Back]

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