Have you ever wondered how a microwave oven works? It's amazing, really. You feel like having a snack right away, so you microwave a bag of popcorn. In less than two minutes, your snack is ready. What could be easier or quicker?
If your family has a microwave oven, you probably use it every day to cook or reheat food. These ovens can heat foods much more quickly than can regular ovens.
They also use less electricity because they are only heating the food and nothing else. But how is this possible?
The clue is in the word microwave. The "wave" in the word refers to a specific type of invisible radio wave. These electromagnetic waves are the same as those used in cell phones and garage door openers. Water, fats, and sugars in food absorb these waves. Glass and most plastics do not absorb them, and metal reflects them. The waves enter food and "excite" or stimulate the water and fat molecules in the food to start moving faster. The movement creates heat. This in turn excites the other molecules in the food to move more quickly and heat up.
As you can see, there's a lot of excitement going on when you press the start button of a microwave oven!
Underline or highlight the words that are important.
Underline or highlight the words that are important.
- microwave oven
- cook or reheat food
- heat foods
- less electricity
- wave
- invisible radio wave
- electromagnetic waves
- absorb
- water, fats, and sugars
- glass and most plastics
- metal reflects
- excite
- stimulate
- molecules
- start moving faster
- movement creates heat
- press the start button