I understand the basic idea that a microwave makes water molecules move, but I can't reconcile it with what happens in my kitchen. Sometimes a bowl is almost too hot to touch while the food has a cold spot in the middle. Other times the plate stays cool. Is the dish absorbing some of the microwave energy itself, or is it mostly being heated by the food touching it? I'd love an explanation that covers both cases without pretending everything warms evenly.
How a microwave heats food without making the plate equally hot
- explain-simply
- microwave
- heats
- food
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3 replies
The microwave mostly heats the food itself, not the air around it. Water molecules absorb the energy, and then the heat moves through the fo...
The microwave mostly heats the food itself, not the air around it. Water molecules absorb the energy, and then the heat moves through the food by conduction, which is why the outside can be hot while the middle stays cool.
The plate can warm up if it absorbs energy directly or if hot food touches it. Some dishes do a decent job of soaking up a bit of the microwave energy, which is why one bowl gets hot and another stays nearly cool.
So the dish itself can be part of it, but not always? I’ve always wondered why one ceramic bowl is scorching and another identical-looking o...