# Biology teacher says don't open microwave till beeps stop because microwaves still bouncing around

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biology-teacher-says-dont-open-microwave-till-beeps-stop-because-microwaves-still-bouncing-around/745943>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 12, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biology-teacher-says-dont-open-microwave-till-beeps-stop-because-microwaves-still-bouncing-around/745943 "2016-02-12T16:06:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biology-teacher-says-dont-open-microwave-till-beeps-stop-because-microwaves-still-bouncing-around/745943/62 "2016-02-24T14:50:31Z")

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> [@panache45](#):
>
> At least he wasn’t a physics teacher.

Heh. This reminds me of a story one of my friends told me in college of walking into a physics lab on a summer day to discover the teacher complaining about how hot it was despite the fact that he’d got the air conditioner running.

The portable air conditioner.

Which was sitting on a table in the middle of the lab.

Venting into the room (from both sides).

Yep. Sometimes smart people don’t always fully engage their braincells.

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**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biology-teacher-says-dont-open-microwave-till-beeps-stop-because-microwaves-still-bouncing-around/745943/63 "2016-02-24T18:10:27Z")

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It must have been some other physics professors.

/A reference to an old joke about Artur Rubinstein (or insert whomever) complaining about the temperature of the concert hall (with [insert whomever] in the audience.

/I guess you had to be there.

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**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biology-teacher-says-dont-open-microwave-till-beeps-stop-because-microwaves-still-bouncing-around/745943/64 "2016-02-24T18:27:14Z")

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> [@davidm](#):
>
> Maybe this explains why my laptop loses it’s WiFi connection when I run the microwave.
> 
> This didn’t happen with my old microwave. Is the new one leaking?

If you haven’t damaged anything around the door or the insides, probably not. One source of electromagnetic noise from microwaves is propagation out thru the powercord. Making your house wiring an antenna so it easily spreads.

Some models isolate the cord from the rest of the circuit better than others.

Note that this is very low level general electromagnetic noise. They aren’t DNA-mutating microwaves attacking your jewels.

Vacuum cleaners can also generate enough noise to cause WiFI problems and they don’t exactly generate microwaves.

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**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biology-teacher-says-dont-open-microwave-till-beeps-stop-because-microwaves-still-bouncing-around/745943/65 "2016-02-24T18:31:17Z")

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> [@ftg](#):
>
> If you haven’t damaged anything around the door or the insides, probably not. One source of electromagnetic noise from microwaves is propagation out thru the powercord. Making your house wiring an antenna so it easily spreads.
> 
> Some models isolate the cord from the rest of the circuit better than others.
> 
> Note that this is very low level general electromagnetic noise. They aren’t DNA-mutating microwaves attacking your jewels.
> 
> Vacuum cleaners can also generate enough noise to cause WiFI problems and they don’t exactly generate microwaves.

I wasn’t concerned about any danger. I obviously don’t have any burns or cooked organs. I was simply curious if there was some low level leakage.

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