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Days Can Be Converted To Hours, Minutes or Even Seconds When Using Microwave Technology in the Lab

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2018

Richard T. Giberson ,
Richard S. Demaree Jr. ,
Steven B. Lee  and
Michi Lee
Richard T. Giberson
Affiliation:
Ted Pella, Inc.
Richard S. Demaree Jr.
Affiliation:
Calif. State Univ., Chico
Steven B. Lee
Affiliation:
Dept. of Justice, DNA Lab., BerkeleyCA
Michi Lee
Affiliation:
Dept. of Justice, DNA Lab., BerkeleyCA

Extract

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What happens when a cup of water and two ice cubes, contained in a bowl, are placed side by side in an 800 watt microwave oven and microwaved for two minutes at 100% power? The answer may not be obvious, even to the most ardent microwave user. The water will boil and the ice will remain essentially unmelted. This dichotomy of the results may appear puzzling to the casual observer, or may explain why your food does not defrost quite evenly. To the microwave, however, it all makes sense. Water is a dielectric and absorbs microwave energy. The net result is that it heats up. The ice under the above conditions is essentially transparent to the microwave and does not heat. It would take an ice wall greater than 30 meters thick (3.4 cm for 25° C water) to protect you from the microwave energy emitted by the standard household microwave, whereas a >170 nm thick piece of aluminum foil is all that is required to reflect that same energy.

Type
Research Article
Information
Microscopy Today , Volume 3 , Issue 5 , June 1995 , pp. 14 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 1995

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