Estimating # of photons/electron from magnetron.

[Spinnor]

Say a microwave oven magnetron operates at 2000V between the cathode and anode. Say the magnetron has an efficiency of 75%. Say the microwave photons have a energy of about 10E-5eV. We are told that most of the energy loss is in the magnetron.

Can we then say that each electron on average on its way from the cathode to the anode emits about .75x2000/10E-5 = 1.5E8 microwave photons?

Is there a way to come up with a rough number for the number of orbits a typical electron makes in the magnetron on its way from cathode to anode.

Thanks!

 

[tech99]

Say a microwave oven magnetron operates at 2000V between the cathode and anode. Say the magnetron has an efficiency of 75%. Say the microwave photons have a energy of about 10E-5eV. We are told that most of the energy loss is in the magnetron.

Can we then say that each electron on average on its way from the cathode to the anode emits about .75x2000/10E-5 = 1.5E8 microwave photons?

Is there a way to come up with a rough number for the number of orbits a typical electron makes in the magnetron on its way from cathode to anode.

Thanks!

As far as I can see, the electrons do not radiate but are used to generate AC in the cavity resonators. There is no necessity to have radiation from the system and so I cannot see the connection to photons.

 

[Spinnor]

Thanks tech99. At some point microwave photons are produced, quanta?

We have electrons which start out with a large potential energy and over some time lose about 2000 eV of energy, is this energy not lost in quantum jumps? The magnetron seems kind of like an electron spiraling down to the nucleus of an atom with the anode being the nucleus. Of course the magnetic field complicates things but seems to me like there should be something like energy levels of an atom for the electron inside the magnetron.

Thanks!