Unwise Microwave Oven Experiments

[LARED]

http://www.amasci.com/weird/microexp.html#demo

They're Heeeeere!

Years ago I was living with roommates, and while working in the kitchen I noticed that the fluorescent light over the sink was about 8 inches long. A light went on in my brain ;) because I'd always wondered what would happen if a fluorescent tube was placed in a microwave oven. In theory the RF energy should have enough voltage to ignite the mercury vapor into a plasma, and the lamp should light. But standard ovens put out at least 500 watts, so the tiny fluorescent tube should light quite brightly, to say the least. I'd never before encountered a fluorescent tube which was short enough to fit in an oven. So, I pulled out the tube, stuck it in the oven, said "THEY'RE HEEEEEERE!" , and punched the ON switch. Sure enough, the kitchen was lit up by a blue-white blaze of light coming from the front of the microwave oven. I only let it run for about 1 second, but this was enough to heat the fluorescent tube so it was too hot to touch.

(Yeah yeah yeah, I know I'm reeeeeally old, and most young whippersnappers never saw all the ads for the movie "Poltergeist," where the young daughter looks at the screen of the misbehaving TV set and says "they're here." )


From a different experiment

[Don_G]

1. Try A CD

It arcs quite a bit.

[Champion Jack]

2. Put a bar of soap in there

pretty interesting

[LARED]

3. What happens.

I just bought a new mircowave and now is not the time for experimentation

[RC]

4. I did the same expirment, only I used

a round fluorescent made for screwing into a lamp. I removed all the extra hardware I could. It lit up as it normaly would. Yeah, the metal parts did get a little warm.

Only big kids should try sruff like this. :evilgrin:

[jayfish]

5. The Tried And True...

egg. Very few things are nastier.

Jay

[Robb]

6. Let's hear it for Powerlabs!

If you've ever clicked through my sig line, you know I'm just nuts for the microwaves. This is such a fun site here. Powerlabs is the best! All the stuff I'd do if I had the cajones.... ;)

[scarlet_owl]

7. Circus Peanuts

You know. The candy. They expand in the microwave.

[Archae]

8. Nuke a Peep!

TONS of fun nuking Peeps! :-)