Mystery of the Microwave Bugs: How Do They Survive?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the phenomenon of bugs, specifically ants, surviving inside a domestic microwave during cooking. It is established that microwaves create uneven heating patterns, resulting in hot spots and cooler areas. The presence of a turntable in microwaves helps to distribute heat more evenly, but ants can navigate to cooler spots to avoid being cooked. A practical experiment suggested involves placing chocolate chips on a plate without the turntable to observe the uneven melting effect.

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  • Understanding of microwave cooking principles
  • Knowledge of thermal dynamics in food heating
  • Familiarity with the function of microwave turntables
  • Basic knowledge of insect behavior in response to temperature
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This discussion is beneficial for food scientists, microwave engineers, entomologists, and anyone interested in the interaction between cooking technology and biological resilience.

leroyjenkens
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Whenever I cook something in my microwave, sometimes there will be a bug in it and it won't be affected by the microwave. It'll just walk around inside the microwave while the food is cooking. How is it able to do that without getting cooked itself?

Thanks.
 
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In a domestic microwave the pattern of the power isn't very even - there are hot spots and unheated spots.
That's why the have a turntable - to average out the power into the food.
The ant just stays in the cool bits and walks away from the hot spots.

If you want to test it (and make a mess) put evenly spaced chocolate chips on a plate and take out the turntable - you will see that only about half the chips are melted.
 

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