Dear racecar-ga;
Thank you for allowing me to research your question.
To understand the reason why an ant survives in a microwave oven is to
understand the way a microwave oven works. A microwave oven emits a
form of energy called ‘standing waves”. That is to say that evenly
spaced, stationary waves of energy bombard the turntable (or plate) in
a vertical fashion so that only specific areas of the turntable are
struck by the waves. Everything inside the microwave is not
necessarily exposed to the waves, especially when the turntable is
motionless. This is why you notice that certain portions of your food
are well heated while others remain cold whenever the turntable is not
moving. The sole purpose of the moving turntable is to ensure that all
areas of the food pass through the stationary ‘standing waves”.
Increasing the intensity of the microwave oven doesn’t turn up the
heat, it activates more ‘standing waves” in a given area of space.
The physical size of an object has little to do with its
susceptibility to microwave generated heat. In fact, chemists use
microwave technology to heat sub-micron particles. The ant’s size only
comes into play because he is able to navigate between the ‘standing
waves’ by sensing the areas where there is high volume heat and low
volume heat. You can visualize the patterns of low heat v. high heat
by filling a paper plate with marshmallows and putting them in the
oven with the turntable turned off. After a few seconds you will see a
pattern of melt or blistering on the marshmallows that are exposed
while the others seem unaffected. Additionally, the intensity of the
waves is greater in some areas than in others. You can see this by
putting a pat of butter on the surface of the turntable and another on
the bottom of an overturned paper cup. The one on the cup will melt
long before the one on the turntable, because the wave intensity is
lower near the bottom and sides of the oven than it is at various
points elevated just above the turntable (where food heaped on a is
plate usually located).
A single ant, or even a few ants, can simply walk around between the
waves of energy, making their way from one safe area to the next, and
avoid getting nuked. If, on the other hand, you put a thousand ants in
your microwave and agitate them so that they are running around in a
panic, you will, without a doubt, see many of them turned to toast.
I hope this provides an answer to your question. I look forward to
working with you again in the near future.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
“Ant Like Microwaves”
http://www.science-frontiers.com/sf127/sf127p07.htm
“The Zoh Show - Ants Can Survive Microwaves”
http://www.zohshow.com/News/Newsbytes/tidbits022700.htm
“The New Scientist”
http://www.newscientist.com/lastword/article.jsp?id=lw594
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Request for Answer Clarification by
racecar-ga
on
21 Nov 2002 14:57 PST
This is a comment, not a request for answer clarification, but I can't
seem to post a comment, I suppose since the question is closed. I did
try the marshmellow experiment, and was disappointed. The
marshmellows just puffed up to several times their original size, and
no standing wave pattern was visible. I have been doing some
expermentation though (including, I admit, some of an ethically
questionable nature involving ants), and have formed an opinion: I
believe the most important factor is the small electric field
magnitudes experienced by the ants due to their proximity to the metal
wall. For example, an ant on top of a plastic cup in the microwave
oven fairs far worse than one crawling on the oven floor. A second
factor, of undetermined importance, is the high surface-area-to-volume
ratio of the ants, which allows them to dissipate heat efficiently
(the air around them is not heated by the microwaves). I have come to
believe that the 'standing wave' pattern is of only minor importance,
at least in my (newish) oven. The experiments which led to this
conclusion involved receipts from fast food restaurants. Most such
establishments now print receipts on heat sensitive paper. By soaking
the receipts in water (thus allowing them to absorb microwave energy),
a much more accurate visualization of heating pattern may be obtained
than with marshmellows. Heating appears to be quite uniform.
Perhaps, however, uniformity of heating is a function oven design, and
ants in other microwave ovens may have more success finding cool spots
than they would in mine.
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Clarification of Answer by
tutuzdad-ga
on
21 Nov 2002 18:44 PST
Dear racecar-ga;
You may be right that your microwave, being a later model, may be less
suitable for the pattern experiement than others. It is also possible
that this particular visualization works best when the oven is set at
it's lowest setting. Be sure the turntable IS NOT TURNING when you
conduct it; otherwise you can expect all areas of the marshmallows to
be equally exposed. Additionally, it would be logical to turn the oven
off at the first sign of any blistering on the marshmallow surface. Do
not depend on any one setting alone. You will need to determine this
point with your own eyes just in time to see the results. Even then
the pattern may be only slight enough to detect.
Suffice it to say that the standing wave technology "is" the
technology that a mocrowave employs. It goes without saying, then,
that this technology is being improved upon on a regular basis.
Someday, it may be virtually impossible for an ant to survive a
microwave - and it looks like that day is rapidly approaching.
Good luck
tutuzdad-ga
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