Microwaves

[wine]

How do microwaves affect the space within it's proximity?

I'm particularly curious about how they affect human beings, and their-
I mean our food that they heat using microwaves.

Do appreciate all your consciousness, together.

[Mercedes Benzene]

I don't think this should go in computer science... but...

Let's start by knowing how microwaves work.
Microwaves essentially make water molecules vibrate. As these molecules vibrate, they expand, heating up repidly. This is how food can be heated so quickly.

[wine]

So it's not radioactive?

[wine]

Interesting. Why've I been under the impression microwaves were radioactive?

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by wine

Interesting. Why've I been under the impression microwaves were radioactive?

Probably because it is common to use the phrase "microwave radiation" when talking about microwaves. Since your body is about 98% water, it can suffer burns and tissue damage from microwaves. The screen mesh in microwave oven doors, and their metal body, prevent the microwaves from escaping the oven.
Back on task, microwave radiation does not contaminate material as does a radioactive element; switch off the microwave producer and the effect stops.

[Drip Curl Magic]

yeah, no harm done to the food.

I heard about a study done to measure the amount of microwave radiation that escapes the microwave while your food is cooking.

they concluded that you would have to collectively spend something like 20 years in front of an active microwave to absorb enough microwave radiation to be effected at all.


I heard this all through word of mouth. So, I'm not sure if it holds water in the science world.

[Drip Curl Magic]

Well, according to Wiki-

Some people are concerned with being exposed to the microwave radiation. The U.S. legal limit of leaking radiation is 1 mW/cm² at 5 cm (about 2 inches) from a new oven — for a used oven the allowed radiation is five times higher. It is rare for an oven to exceed these limits. As a comparison, a GSM mobile phone may emit up to 1 W at 1800 MHz, which is 3.2 mW/cm², at 5 cm, with a human being staying nearby (such as within 5 cm for far longer periods of time). Whether or not cellular phones are hazardous to the health is also controversial

oh, and this is interesting....

Liquids, when heated in a microwave oven in a container with a smooth surface, can superheat; that is, reach temperatures that are a few degrees Celsius above their normal boiling point without actually boiling. The boiling process can start explosively when the liquid is disturbed, such as when the operator grabs hold of the container to take it out of the oven, which can result in severe burns.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_oven

[wine]

why thank you