On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 01:38:36 -0000, colin wrote:

"Peter Hucker" wrote in message
newsp.tmrzqxxk4buhsv@fx62...
On Wed, 24 Jan 2007 14:53:25 -0000, Snap Whipcrack..............
wrote:

Peter Hucker wrote:
On Tue, 23 Jan 2007 16:49:43 -0000, Snap Whipcrack..............
wrote:

Peter Hucker wrote:
Is it really true that turning on a microwave with nothing in it will
break it?

Even more worrying - will it catch fire or explode?

Don't they have a safety cutout? Can't it sense the Klystron
overheating, or a build up of microwaves over a certain level?

I have purchased a new microwave which has an easier to grab control.
I'm concerned one of my pet parrots will switch it on! (Seriously, they do
stuff like that)

Microwave ovens don't care what you put inside. They do not have
feedback loops. You can cook a raisin or a melon or nothing at all.

But where do you think the power ends up if it is not absorbed?

It dissipates. Where do you think the microwave transmitters on mountain
tops power ends up? It doesn't go round and round the earth forever.

It's absorbed into water, in lakes for example.

A closed microwave has nothing that can absorb it.

The glass tray will usually absorb some of the microwave, basically when its
empty the electric field builds up to such a high value that it eventually
gets absorbed by something somewhere, or it ends up disipating in sparking
wich can be quite spectacular if have two bits of unconnected metal close to
eachother.

Brainiac Science Abuse (TV program) put a set of five swinging balls (one of them office toys) in a microwave on its own. The microwave exploded spectacularly after less than a minute. Can you explain that?

--
http://www.petersparrots.com http://www.insanevideoclips.com http://www.petersphotos.com

If there's a fire why not just open the fire exit to let it out?