[Greg_G47]

DISCLAIMER: Don't try this at home. I bought a microwave at a garage sale for this purpose and have both melted holes in the roof and lit the microwave on fire. Hot glass can cause burns as well as shatter (sometimes explosively) without warning. Hot metal can burn you and your equipment. It can also ignite and be difficult to extinguish. Burning plastics may produce fumes causing respiratory irritation and potentially other health problems. this experiment can produce intense visible and ultra-violet light which will cause welder's flash (eye injury) if protection is not worn. I cannot guarantee that other forms or radiation are not being produced. Any attempt to replicate this experiment is done so at the reader's own risk. If you are not an adult, do NOT attempt this without parental/academic permission and supervision.

There are numerous websites where I have seen similar "experiments" conducted on. Most notably "Unwise Microwave Experiments." Thanks goes out to any and all sources where I obtained ideas on how to abuse my microwave.

With that out of the way, now for the fun.

There are a whack of ways to do this. This one causes the least damage of any I have seen and doesn't involve anything combusting.

MATERIALS:

1 microwave oven (I've used several ovens, most sucess has been with those over 1kW)
1 2 inch metal paperclip with no plastic covering of any kind
1 small ceramic bowl, make sure its expendable as it may break.
1 Large transparent pyrex bowl or beaker (optional. will probably break from repeated use)

OTHER EQUIPMENT

Tongs
Welder's goggles/safety goggles
an accurate digital scale (optional)

PROCEDURE

Bend the paperclip so that it forms a flat "C=" shape. Basically a C with lines coming off the ends.

Bend the lines upwards and inwards towards the center of the C so they are angled towards each other and nearly touch.

(Optional) weigh the paperclip device

Place the ceramic bowl upside down in the center of the microwave. Place the paperclip contraption on top.

If you're using a bowl, put it upside-down over the entire setup inside the microwave.

Put on your goggles, cook for 15 seconds and observe.

Using tongs, remove the metal piece, allow it to cool.

Alter the space between the ends and repeat.

(Optional) after several runs, re-weigh the paperclip and note any change (to see if any of the mass was converted to gas or otherwise reoved in a reaction)

MY OBSERVATIONS

On cooking the paperclip, an arc formed between the two upright ends of the clip. This arc quicklly formed a glowing white roughly spherical shape and was accompanied by a loud 120hz buzzing sound. The sphere alternated between this shape and a flamelike masses containing some orange and other colors which detached from the ends and floated upwards.

increasing the spacing of the ends increased the size of the sphere/flame as well as the time it took before formation of an arc.

The ends of the paperclip were heated white hot and melted down into pinhead-like shapes. The center of the clip and the ceramic bowl were quite hot but cool by comparison.

When using a pyrex beaker to contain the glowing mass, it moved to the top of the container and remained there similarly to a liquid in a rightside up beaker. Sometimes this mass would remain stable for 2-15 seconds without any contact with the original arc. Other times it would dissapate upon separation from the arc. It quickly heated the pyrex to the point where it began to glow a dull red and sag downwards. on some trials cracking occured before melting.

Of particular interest is that the "flame" did not behave differently when it was cut off from outside air by the beaker. In similar experiments where a candle or burning toothpick rather than an electrical arc were used to "seed" the glowing mass placing a beaker over them ceased combustion and almost immediatley all other effects ceased as well. In a test containing both an arc and a burning toothpick, the formation of arcs and the glowing masses continued after the flame on the toothpick extinguished due to lack of oxygen.

CONCLUSIONS?

What exactly went on here? I know electrons get forced to the edges of metal in microwaves, causing that arcing, and I know that the "glowing mass" is a collection of ions which absorbs microwaves and is thus perpetuated by them, but I'd like to gain a better insight into what's going on. Post any more in-depth explanations, observations that differ from mine (if you are equipped to try this yourself, see disclaimer), and suggestions for further experimentation.