Your Microwave Doesn't Cook From the Inside Out

Microwaves don't cook from the inside out. They flip water molecules billions of times a second, only reach a centimeter or two into your food, and bounce around as a standing wave. That last part lets you measure the speed of light with a chocolate bar. Try it: take the turntable out (or flip a plate over the spindle), heat a chocolate bar for ~20 s, and measure the gap between melted spots. Double it, multiply by 2.45 billion. What did you get? Chapters 0:00 The myth 0:13 Inside the magnetron 0:26 Why water heats up 0:44 Lava outside, ice inside 1:24 Measure light with chocolate Some ovens shouldn't run without the turntable — use an upside-down plate on the spindle, never run the oven empty. Sources • U.S. FDA — Microwave Oven Radiation: https://www.fda.gov/radiation-emittin... • Physics of microwave heating (dielectric loss, penetration depth) — any intro electromagnetism text, e.g. Griffiths, Introduction to Electrodynamics Credits A by that logic. original: written, animated & produced in-house. Spotted a mistake? Tell us in the comments — corrections get pinned. Subscribe:    / @bythatlogic   #physics #science #howitworks