YouTube: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZqAZz-JhvYA
Previous: Great Minds: Mary Anning, "The Greatest Fossilist in the World"
Next: Quiz Show: Vlogbrothers Face-Off: Hank v. John!

Categories

Statistics

View count:1,315,319
Likes:27,381
Comments:1,667
Duration:02:33
Uploaded:2014-09-16
Last sync:2024-12-17 00:15

Citation

Citation formatting is not guaranteed to be accurate.
MLA Full: "Why Can't I Put Metal in the Microwave?" YouTube, uploaded by SciShow, 16 September 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqAZz-JhvYA.
MLA Inline: (SciShow, 2014)
APA Full: SciShow. (2014, September 16). Why Can't I Put Metal in the Microwave? [Video]. YouTube. https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZqAZz-JhvYA
APA Inline: (SciShow, 2014)
Chicago Full: SciShow, "Why Can't I Put Metal in the Microwave?", September 16, 2014, YouTube, 02:33,
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZqAZz-JhvYA.
We know we're not supposed to put metal in the microwave, but why? We don't microwave silverware but what about Hot Pocket wrappers? They have metal on the inside. How does that work? Let Michael Aranda explain.

Hosted by: Michael Aranda
----------
Messages from our Subbable subscribers:
----------
Like SciShow? Want to help support us, and also get things to put on your walls, cover your torso and hold your liquids? Check out our awesome products over at DFTBA Records: http://dftba.com/artist/52/SciShow

Or help support us by subscribing to our page on Subbable: https://subbable.com/scishow
----------
Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet?
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scishow
Tumblr: http://scishow.tumblr.com

Thanks Tank Tumblr: http://thankstank.tumblr.com

Sources:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/32032/why-cant-you-put-metal-microwave
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_yg5eKjA4U
http://engineering.mit.edu/ask/why-can%E2%80%99t-we-put-metal-objects-microwave
http://gizmodo.com/what-actually-happens-when-you-put-metal-in-a-microwave-1569906393
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/08/why-you-generally-shouldnt-put-metals-in-the-microwave/
You've probably been told, or maybe learned the hard way after heating a burrito wrapped in tinfoil, that you shouldn't put metal in the microwave. But your curious scientific mind might have noticed that your microwave is…made of metal. And there's even that metal mesh covering the window. And isn't that Hot Pocket pouch lined with aluminum?

So what the heck? When do microwaves and metal play along fine, and when do they end up burning down your house? Well, the heart of your microwave oven is a magnetron, a high-powered vacuum tube that generates microwaves. The magnetron sends microwaves, which, like radio waves, are a type of electromagnetic radiation, into that little box where your food rotates around. And the little window on the door is covered with a metal mesh because that forms what's called a Faraday cage. The holes in the mesh are smaller than a microwave's wavelength, so they keep those waves from passing through the door and cooking off your face.

Safely contained in the box, these microwaves can pass through glass, paper, and plastic until they're absorbed by the water molecules in your food. They heat up until, suddenly, your burrito is no longer frozen. But metals…metals are a different story. They're full of free-moving electrons, so they conduct electricity like nobody's business. How microwaves respond to metal, though, can depend on the metal's thickness and shape. The walls of your microwave oven, for instance, are thick and flat, so when microwaves strike them, the electrons in the metal vibrate back and forth, but the microwaves just bounce off. But when a piece of metal is really thin, like a piece of foil, it's less able to withstand all of that electron activity, and it heats up really fast. Before you know it, it can ignite. Plus, most metal objects like forks and wads of foil have curves and corners. These features can cause microwaves to produce concentrated electric fields along the points and edges. This charge buildup can ionize the air around the object, which is what makes that terrible popping noise, and if the buildup gets high enough, it'll shoot out a powerful arc of electricity to the nearest metal object: usually, the wall of your microwave. And then you have to go appliance shopping.

And yet, some processed foods like pies, soups, and Hot Pockets take advantage of the fact that thin sheets of microwaved metal can turn super hot super fast. These foods are packaged with a thin metallic layer that's coated with a nonmetallic material on the outside, so the food that touches the metal inside browns up quickly. But even those foods need to be watched carefully because if they're left inside for too long, they could burst into flames.

So in the end, it turns out you can put some metal in the microwave, if you're careful. But, I mean, why risk it? You could ruin your kitchen. Or your burrito.

Thanks for asking, and thanks to our Subbable subscribers who keep these answers coming. If you have a quick question, let us know on Facebook and Twitter or in the comments below, and don't forget to go to youtube.com/scishow and subscribe.