So, what precisely happens when you stick metal in a microwave oven and turn it on? Blows stuff up or something?
It seems to me that such a question is just the kind of question that might have already been asked on this board. Well, I did a search on the word “microwave” and didn’t see anything, so at the very least I did my best to not duplicate.
Never actually tried it, but I believe the metal sparks like mad, and can burn a hole in the top of your microwave. If there’s enough, it could set the whole thing on fire. Again, I’ve never done it, but if you feel like sacrificing an old microwave for science, go ahead…just do it somewhere where it won’t burn down your house and wont explode and kill you.
Jman
Yes, it causes quite the lightning display and it melts the plastic inside. One of my kids did it while trying to re-heat a hamburger that was wrapped in a foil package.
When the show was through, it was NOT a pretty sight. 
But, however, the microwave still worked.
Here’s the link to Cecil’s column on this:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a940923a.html
Here’s the discussion stemming from his column:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=31917
You CAN put metal in a microwave, if you’re careful. I put a bowl of soup with a spoon, a plate of food with fork etc. in all the time. Some recipes even tell you to put strips of aluminum foil over parts of the food to control the cooking. It all depends on how much metal, what shape, and where it is. The links have more info.
Arjuna34
See also http://rabi.phys.virginia.edu/HTW/
You can also put a lightbulb in the microwave and watch it glow.
I’ve never tried it myself, but I’ve heard that with the right kinda bulb, you can get it to light.
I’ve done the metal in the micro a few times too. Outside of seeing some sparks and smelling some ozone, it didn’t seem too exciting to me.
see also, howstuffworks.com
Anyway, you can get a toothpick & put it in some inert stuff then burn it. Let it cool. Then put it in microwave standing up & get quite a display.
Handy, calm down and speak slowly and clearly. And don’t use any pronouns. I didn’t understand anything in your post. Inert stuff? Burnt toothpicks? What the heck were you trying to say?
Um, stuyguy? That’s how handy always posts.
Anyway, about the light bulb: Take a glass with about 2 inches of water in it, and put an incandescent bulb you don’t care about any more in socket down. The entire socket should be covered in water, the bulb part should be exposed.
Place in the microwave and when it is cooking, the light will light up because the filament is metal and heats up real good. You may need to practice, as different power levels result in different displays. Sometimes you’ll burn the filament out really quickly, so use lower power next time around.
The water is to keep the socket from doing something bad like melting.
Don’t leave this cooking unattended, don’t cook it for too long, etc. etc.
’ I didn’t understand
anything in your post"
Yeah, right. How much simpler could I do it?
In other words, that wont blow up.
then burn it = get a match, light the toothpick, how hard can that be to understand???
Put in microwave oven. To do this open door of microwave oven, put the toothpick in the microwave oven, close door, turn on for 30 sec.
naw, no one could possibly need this type of instruction. sigh
Handy, I was all set to get pissy at you for your sarcastic reply to my understandable reaction to your original, incomprehensible post.
But after you explained yourself (sort of), I went and tried your idea. Nothing happened using an already burnt, ashy, unlit toothpick. (Boy, was I doubly pissy at you then.) But then I gave it a go with a lit one. Yowee, that was somethin’ else!
Baby, you weren’t joking about “quite a display.” Nice trick. [Big smiley here.]
Handy, it’s just that if you explain something unsual in telegraphic form the reader is bound the wonder if he understood correctly.
For someone familiar with windows I can say “check in control panel - keyboard - language - properties” and they know what do do. Usually though I find I have to guide people step by step (Ok, so, you know, like, the mouse? yes? when I say right click I mean click with the right hand button… etc)
I have to say that, not been familiar with pyrotechnics or voodoo, your instructions did seem a tad weird to me. I will leave it to others to perform the experiment and report.
Long ago, my family was in the test market for Amana, and we had one of the first microwave ovens in the world. At that time, nobody knew how to use the damned things, and they expected you to experiment and then tell them what cooking techniques worked best. But mostly, they were trying to discover what stupid things consumers did that would open themselves up to liability.
One of the first things we discovered was that metal-edged dishes would explode in the microwave. We had a set of fancy gold-rimmed china and they positively exploded into pieces. We called the Amana people and they said that they hadn’t yet had any reports of this being a problem, but since you’re not supposed to put metal in the oven, it would probably be best to not put any metal edge dishes in the oven. And of course, gold-rim coffee cups and dishes are now well known to be a problem in the microwave.
In general, its not OK to put sealed metal objects into a microwave, like a can of soup. But there are uses for aluminum foil as a wave-shield, to keep some parts of a dish from cooking too quickly. Ever seen someone microwave a thanksgiving turkey? My mom did this once (it doesn’t turn out very well). You have to put foil over the drumsticks or else they’ll start on fire before the rest of the bird is cooked.
I once put a stick of butter in the microwave, without noticing it was wrapped in metal foil. The edges of the foil arced a bit, and the melted butter started to sputter and catch fire. Probably a good idea to NOT do stuff like this.
The best use for metallic microwave shielding I’ve ever seen was the microwavable hot fudge sundae.
Imagine a pint of frozen ice cream in a foil-lined paper cup. Above the ice cream is a plastic dome that fits like a lid on the container; frozen inside this dome is chocolate fudge syrup.
Pop the whole arrangement in the mvo. The ice cream – shielded from the micowaves – stays cold. The unshielded fudge heats up and begins to melt down onto the ice cream. When it’s done you pop off the lid and enjoy your treat: ice cold ice cream w/ steamy hot fudge syrup!
Pretty “cool,” eh?
Is that safe??? (ie using the microwave when the plastic lining the top has melted due to a fire)
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=31917
Only this time it’s in the wrong forum.
Anyway, reason I was responding to handy is that I was wondering if he was writing about the same thing I posted in the above thread.
If so, have you tried it, and did it work?