Physics of a Microwave
Southeast Missouri State University
PH106-01
Instructor: Dr. Jian Peng
Submitted By: Natalie Gladbach The microwave, also known as a microwave oven, was seemingly a breakthrough in technology in the early 1940’s that allowed whole meals to be prepared in minutes. The idea of the microwave was created by a man named Percy Spencer. Mr. Spencer developed the plans based on radar technology breakthroughs from World War II. The microwave was originally named the Radarange and first hit store fronts in 1946. The Radarange did not sell to well as they were rather large and bulky for regular home use. In 1955 a company known as Tappan created a new version but even that version was too big and expensive. In 1967 the Amana Corporation introduced the first countertop microwave oven and since the microwave has become the most used kitchen appliance in the world. The Microwave oven is known to heat or reheat previously cooked foods by exposing the food to microwave radiation in the electromagnetic spectrum. This activates polar molecules in the food to rotate and produce thermal energy. This is a process known as dielectric heating. Consequently, the food is heated quickly and efficiently. Food that is spread out and has higher water content will cook faster and more thoroughly than food which is denser.
In order for food to be cooked in a microwave oven, microwaves must pass through the food. Thus, the name microwave. Microwaves are electromagnetic
Cooking in a microwave uses less energy. Toasting bread in a toaster is cheaper than using the grill.
Heating a popcorn. External: I put the popcorn bag in the microwave and heat it up, so the popcorn will be ready to eat. Internal: The heat that is emitted from the microwave will heat the corn shell, so that it will pop.
In the 1920s, also known as the Roaring Twenties, many new household appliances came out to American consumers. One of them was the electric powered washing machine that clean clothes in an efficient and easy way. This product, the Thor, was a drum like washer with a tub and a electric motor and was created by Alva J. Fisher in 1908 (Bellis). Also,a vacuum cleaner is an electric tool used to suction up dust and small objects on floors. This tool was created by Hubert Cecil Booth and David T. Kenney in 1901 by using air for the separation of dirt (Green). Another appliance, the electric refrigerator, is a tool that keeps your food and drinks cold and fresh. The refrigerator was invented by Fred W. Wolf in 1913 and was a icebox with a refrigeration unit connected to the top (Chapman). All of these appliances made the twenties roar because it made labor easier around the household.
When I attended, there was a lunchroom. It was in what was originally a classroom on the first floor of the annex. There were blackboards and chalk trays. There were folding tables and folding chairs for some students to sit and eat. There was no real kitchen. There was a counter. Behind the counter there was a refrigerator and a freezer. There also was a Stewart In-Fra-Red oven for heating Stewart Sandwiches. Stewart Sandwiches were pre-made hamburgers, hotdogs and the like. They were marketed by Stewart In-Fra-Red, Inc., Harvard, Illinois. Infrared ovens were more readily available than microwave ovens, or radar ranges as they were called. The primary market for Stewart Sandwiches was snack bars at bowling alleys and low-end retail stores. At the time, Stewart Sandwiches were also the main entrée
This particular device cooked the food almost instantly. This type of oven has not yet been invented showing readers that this story is indeed in the future with technology out of today's reach. “The rooms were acrawl with the small cleaning animals, all rubber and metal. They thudded against chairs, shirling their moustached runners, kneading the rug nap, sucking gently at hidden dust.” These cleaning mice could clean an entire house in less than a matter of seconds.
In “How a Melted Chocolate Bar Changed our Kitchens”, it talks about how this man named Percy Spencer, discovered a completely new way to cook. In the text it said, “Percy Spencer was trying to create a Magnetron device, “and he did so much more than create the device. He discovered that the Magnetron gave off so much heat. One day he was trying to figure out what the machine would do if he put a handful of popcorn kernels in front of it. Percy then asked for the kernels and they popped right in his hands! He didn’t even believe what he was seeing because they didn’t have microwaves back then.
In the past, using a lot of oil and fats in cooking was necessary to make the dishes tasty and to bring out the best and deliciousness in a dish. But now, it is not so, since, these ovens have dedicated knobs and plates for cooking that would just evenly heat up the food that you are cooking and that too using infrared rays so that your cooking time and of course oil is also used up effectively.
To begin the hovercraft was dreamt up by inventor Christopher Cockrell of England. Cockrell put the idea to paper in 1955 and originally tested his idea using an empty KiteKat cat food tin inside a coffee tin, an industrial air blower and a pair of kitchen scales. After creating a full scale model they were produced and used for military purposes originally by England and later by the U.S. Navy in the Vietnam War. Another invention of the 1950’s was the microwave, the microwave was first sold for consumer use in 1954 and sold by the Raytheon Co. The microwave helped families make quick meals and started a wave of T.V. dinners in the 1960’s when the microwave was a household essential. Although the microwave soon became a household item it was not always so popular, many feared that microwaves were unsafe. Even though people feared about the microwave’s safety the microwave soon became a big part of American food culture from the 1950’s until
The Radio was introduced to society because of the telegraph and the telephone. These inventions don’t do the same things but their similar branch of technology. “Radio technology began as “wireless telegraphy”. “It all started with the discovery of radio waves, electromagnetic waves that have the capacity to transmit music, speech, pictures and other data invisibly through air.” [Bellis] Majority of technology uses electromagnetic waves to send data information or TV broadcasts. During the 1860’s, Scottish physicist, James Clerk Maxwell predicted the existence of radio waves; and in 1886, German physicist, Heinrich Rudolph Hertz showed how fast the variation of electric current could be placed into space in the form of
The Microfridge, Is a devised electronic circuitry that shuts off power to the refrigerator whenever the microwave oven is switched on and pulls less than 20 amps of current, is a 1+1>2 device which can offer those who are in concern of using electronic appliances safely like college students and retailers a safer, more convenient and inexpensive combination of microwave and fridge.
They use gas or electricity to heat a ceramic plate and the infrared that radiates from the plate is what cooks the food. The waves are emitted within a particular wavelength range that is optimal for cooking. Some are designed specifically to limit air circulation and to provide even heat.
“Don’t stand too close to the microwave!” This is a common phrase thrown out--usually by a worried mother--to stop children from potentially receiving “dangerous” radiation waves as the food heats up. The microwave was invented by Percy Spencer in 1946 and ever since its first debut, it has received much criticism. Debates over the true safety of utilizing this appliance worry many people and, in some cases, lead people to forego using a microwave all together. All may not be as it seems though as new research and technology reveals another side to the story. The more one understands about the science behind and the safety surrounding the microwave, the more one will start realizing that the microwave is actually not as harmful as contended.
One of the most life changing technological innovations is the microwave oven. Invented by accident in 1946 by Dr. Percy LeBaron Spencer, the microwave oven was originally received poorly like many other new forms of technology. Fears that the microwave radiation would escape during use, or that it would ruin the art of cooking were some of the worries that many people had when this technology was released (Gallawa, 2007). Through years of refinement however, the microwave oven has become commonplace in kitchens across the globe. While fears of people giving up traditional cooking methods proved to be unfounded, microwaves have proven to be a valuable tool used by everyone from young kids to master chefs. In addition, an entire new food service industry was created based on the ability to quickly prepare food. Frozen foods and microwave popcorn are just a couple of the items we
The rectenna on Earth that receive the microwaves would also have to be extremely large due to the expanding size of the microwaves as they approach