Microwaving Soap

[auroram42]

Hi everyone!

 

For a quick science pick-me-up, stick a naked bar of Ivory soap in the microwave for about two minutes (or less).

 

Other brands don't seem to work quite as well as Ivory, but let me know if you find someting interesting!

 

Aurora

[swansont]

Ivory has air bubbles in it, which is why it floats, which is probably why you get a different response from it than other brands. You can get fun things to happen if you nuke a marshmallow, too, because of the air bubbles.

 

[repsonsible adult mode]But if you aren't the owner of the microwave, get permission first. i.e. kids, ask your parents[/responsible adult mode]

[CPL.Luke]

hmm does it epand or something?

[YT2095]

yes.

[Phi for All]

hmm does it epand or something?

It forces you to clean your microwave. Fortunately, there's soap right there.

 

Seriously, it expands and puffs up like shaving cream.

[insane_alien]

it foams up. impresive but messy. i preffer the simple pleasures the humble CD in a microwave gives.

[Callipygous]

i like the grape sliced in half, but not quite seperated.

 

also, a cup of water with a light bulb in it is neat.

[swansont]

it foams up. impresive but messy.

 

Is "messy soap" an oxymoron?

[Phi for All]

i like the grape sliced in half, but not quite seperated.

Explain, please.

also, a cup of water with a light bulb in it is neat.

Also explain, please.

 

 

I've been loathe to experiment using the microwave given my daughter's predilection for independent research but I'm looking to buy a new one soooooo.... (we really need an evil grin in addition to the SEG)

[swansont]

Explain, please.

 

I'm guessing it's the link in this post.

[Callipygous]

if you cut a grape down the middle, but leave it attached by the skin, then put the wet sides down on a plate, and put it in the microwave it makes this bright flame thing. im not sure exactly how to describe it. theres a video of some guy who put a glass cup over the top of it and it made this really cool effect, but they also said dont do it in a microwave you care about so i havent tried it.

 

if you put a light bulb in a cup of water, metal end submerged, and turn it on the bulb turns on. well... i guess turns on istn quite right. it makes a rather interesting light. on second thought, im not sure it needs to be submerged. i think the water might just be there for cooling purposes or something. the bulb heats up pretty quick.

[auroram42]

Has anyone tried the Mentos-Diet Coke experiment? I just did this with about fifty other people, and it was SOOOOO cool! (I think partly because we increasing the quantity of soda flying in the air.)

 

~A.

[mclrn227]

if you cut a grape down the middle, but leave it attached by the skin, then put the wet sides down on a plate, and put it in the microwave it makes this bright flame thing. im not sure exactly how to describe it. theres a video of some guy who put a glass cup over the top of it and it made this really cool effect, but they also said dont do it in a microwave you care about so i havent tried it.

 

if you put a light bulb in a cup of water, metal end submerged, and turn it on the bulb turns on. well... i guess turns on istn quite right. it makes a rather interesting light. on second thought, im not sure it needs to be submerged. i think the water might just be there for cooling purposes or something. the bulb heats up pretty quick.

 

it creates a ball of plasma. the glass cup upside-down captures the plasma. it really is amazing, along with the terrifying sound effects.

[imp]

One of the mfrs. used to supply their dealers with a "light board" to use for display purposes with their microwave ovens. It consisted of small neon lamps placed in a lattice with spacing of about 2 inches between each lamp. The board was of such size that it could lie flat on the floor of the oven. When turned on, the radiation ionized the lamps in a rather fluttery sequence of lights, rather eerie-looking.

 

Their main intent was to show that some ovens actually have "dead" spots in them, and the lamps do not light at all where such places are. If a dead spot is found, and a small container of water is placed there, it will not get hot.

 

The way in which dead spots was overcome is to provide a rotating turntable, or a "stirring fan" in the waveguide which alternately disrupts the movement of microwave energy.

 

You can easily build a light board by simply taping some small neon lamps to a piece of cardboard. Try it! imp

[Callipygous]

if you put a light bulb in a cup of water, metal end submerged, and turn it on the bulb turns on. well... i guess turns on istn quite right. it makes a rather interesting light. on second thought, im not sure it needs to be submerged. i think the water might just be there for cooling purposes or something. the bulb heats up pretty quick.

 

im just now realizing that the important characteristic of microwaves is that they are the at the resonate frequency of water, and therefore heat water. so clearly the water isnt for cooling. i dont know why its there, i just know it was recommended at whatever site i found that at 10 years go. : P

 

maybe someone on the lovely science site could tell whats actually going on.

[Glider]

The water isolates the external metal components of the lightbulb to stop the contact end arcing out. The filament is inside the glass bulb so the arcing there is isolated too.

[swansont]

im just now realizing that the important characteristic of microwaves is that they are the at the resonate frequency of water, and therefore heat water. so clearly the water isnt for cooling. i dont know why its there, i just know it was recommended at whatever site i found that at 10 years go. : P

 

maybe someone on the lovely science site could tell whats actually going on.

 

The purpose of the water is probably as an energy sink. Without it, the oven "looks" essentially empty to the microwaves, and running an oven empty generally isn't particularly good for it (you can damage the magnetron).

 

Also the frequency isn't at a water resonance. You wouldn't want that, because then they wouldn't penetrate as far. Water vapor has a resonance somewhere around 20 GHz and water in a liquid or solid will have a different value, depending on the substance. The absorption coefficient at oven frequencies is a continuum, and is large enough that the foods are opaque to the microwaves.

[spooky]

taking air from marshmallows with a vacuum type thing also works with destroying them.

 

Flour burns when thrown in fire.

 

yeah theres some pretty awesome stuff going on in microwaves posted on youtube. ^.^

[swansont]

Flour burns when thrown in fire.

 

Anything ground up to give a really large surface area will tend to do this, if there is an exothermic oxidation reaction waiting to take place. So flour can also explode pretty nicely, under the right conditions.

[spooky]

We found that out at our last camp someone wasn't being so bright near the fire and was throwing flour across the fire at each other..and hence how the flour came to be inside the fire.

[bored_teen]

it creates a ball of plasma. the glass cup upside-down captures the plasma. it really is amazing, along with the terrifying sound effects.

 

whoa, whoa, WHOA. microwaving grapes creates plasma?!?!?

 

you would think scientists would go somewhere with this...

[swansont]

whoa, whoa, WHOA. microwaving grapes creates plasma?!?!?

 

you would think scientists would go somewhere with this...

 

It's now a classified DARPA project, the Welchotron.

[insane_alien]

lol. as if grapes were the ultimate source of plasma

[bored_teen]

is it the kind of plasma stars are made from, or the kind you get when you do stuff to blood?

[Sisyphus]

Um, stars. "Plasma" just means ionized gas.