What a microwave is.
| by glyn booth | November 30, 2007
A microwave oven works by passing microwave radiation, usually at a frequency of 2450 MHz , through the food. Water, fat, and sugar molecules in the food absorb energy from the microwave beam in a process called dielectric heating. Many molecules (such as those of water) are electric dipoles, meaning that they have a positive charge at one end and a negative charge at the other, and therefore rotate as they try to align themselves with the alternating electric field induced by the microwave beam. This molecular movement creates heat as the rotating molecules hit other molecules and put them into motion. Microwave heating is most efficient on liquid water, and much less so on fats and sugars (which have less molecular dipole moment), and frozen water (where the molecules are not free to rotate). Microwave heating is sometimes incorrectly explained as a rotational resonance of water molecules: such resonance only occurs at much higher frequencies, in the tens of gigahertz.
A common misconception is that microwave ovens cook food from the "inside out". In reality, microwaves are absorbed in the outer layers of food in a manner somewhat similar to heat from other methods. The rays from a microwave electrically manipulate water particles to cook food. It is actually the friction caused by the movement that creates heat and warms the food. The misconception arises because microwaves penetrate dry nonconductive substances at the surfaces of many common foods, and thus often deposit initial heat more deeply than other methods. Depending on water content the depth of initial heat deposition may be several centimeters or more with microwave ovens, in contrast to grilling ("broiling" in American English), which relies on infrared radiation, or the thermal convection of a convection oven, which deposit heat shallowly at the food surface. Depth of penetration of microwaves is dependent on food composition and the frequency, with lower microwave frequencies being more penetrating.
Most of people do not think about microwave spare parts when their domestic appliance breaks down. They would usually get it fixed by a specialist who will buy the microwave spare parts and do the work for you, or even will buy a new one. One option they tend to forget is they could fix it by themselves.
A common misconception is that microwave ovens cook food from the "inside out". In reality, microwaves are absorbed in the outer layers of food in a manner somewhat similar to heat from other methods. The rays from a microwave electrically manipulate water particles to cook food. It is actually the friction caused by the movement that creates heat and warms the food. The misconception arises because microwaves penetrate dry nonconductive substances at the surfaces of many common foods, and thus often deposit initial heat more deeply than other methods. Depending on water content the depth of initial heat deposition may be several centimeters or more with microwave ovens, in contrast to grilling ("broiling" in American English), which relies on infrared radiation, or the thermal convection of a convection oven, which deposit heat shallowly at the food surface. Depth of penetration of microwaves is dependent on food composition and the frequency, with lower microwave frequencies being more penetrating.
Most of people do not think about microwave spare parts when their domestic appliance breaks down. They would usually get it fixed by a specialist who will buy the microwave spare parts and do the work for you, or even will buy a new one. One option they tend to forget is they could fix it by themselves.
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