# Microwaving metal (and other things) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 24, 2000, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-metal-and-other-things/26677 "2000-07-24T19:13:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2000, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-metal-and-other-things/26677/1 "2000-07-24T19:13:42Z")
Do Not Try This At Home Department: The classic column featured in today’s home page, [Why does metal produce strange effects in a microwave?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a940923a.html) reminds me of a couple of things. Acting on advice from my daughter’s Girl Scout troop leader to the effect that “You can stick an entire cob of miniature strawberry popcorn in the microwave and it will pop _in situ_ as it were, making a very nifty effect”, we tried it, first putting the corncob in a plastic cereal bowl, to contain any stray kernels. What happened was, about a minute later we realized there was an actual fire in the microwave. The corncob had gotten hot enough to ignite the plastic bowl, which sat there burning merrily. The popcorn itself remained unpopped. The other thing was, in Steven Seagal’s _Under Siege,_ he puts an aerosol can in a microwave, sets the timer, and the thing blows up very nicely, just in time to take out a couple of bad guys. Would this really work, as a bomb, I mean? Or would it just catch on fire and melt down or something? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2000, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-metal-and-other-things/26677/2 "2000-07-24T20:20:12Z")
Regarding the aerosol can, remember that the contents of the can are under pressure and are flammable. In fact, aerosol cans carry warnings about getting them too hot or puncturing them. So while I have never conducted a demonstration to verify the effect, I think it is highly likely that the can will goo boom. Does that mean the door to the microwave will suffer a catastrophic failure and shatter? I do not know. Cecil does mention microwaving marshmallows, and says they supposedly have a cool effect. Yes they doo. They swell and get soft and gooey. But don’t leave them in too long. I have heard that the plastic/foil wrappers of Pop-Tarts make like flash paper. Have not tried it. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2000, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-metal-and-other-things/26677/3 "2000-07-24T20:33:06Z")
Fortunately for y’all, my former boss actually did try that. She put a Wendy’s hamburger in the microwave, complete in it’s foil (very thin) /paper wrapper, and yep, it flamed up. completely - flames melted the upper ceiling of the inside of the microwave, had to unplug the sucker and let the flames die out inside. the foil did the spark thing, which caught the underlying paper on fire. Pretty tremendous effect, but definately NOT worth loosing the microwave over. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2000, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-metal-and-other-things/26677/4 "2000-07-24T22:45:13Z")
Foil in the microwave: I thought that was how those “browning” things worked, that they had a layer of foil in there somewhere. No? Also, not only did Steven Seagal’s microwave door fail catastrophically, it did so in such a manner as to take two bad guys with it. Big boom. ---
**Author:** ![Kyberneticist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@Kyberneticist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyberneticist)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-metal-and-other-things/26677/5 "2000-07-25T00:57:54Z")
Remember Batman II? In her random vandalism of a mall, she shoved some aerosol cans into a microwave, and backflipped out before the building went up in flames. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-metal-and-other-things/26677/6 "2000-07-25T03:41:29Z")
[This site](http://www.exo.net/~pauld/activities/sweden/microwaves.html) documents the effects of microwaves on a variety of objects, including marshmallow Peeps, lightbulbs and compact discs. Their disclaimer discourages all from trying these at home, but at the same claims that no harm came to the microwave oven. It seems that microwaving Peeps is a favorite pastime among webheads. Entering [microwave peeps](http://google.yahoo.com/bin/query?p=microwave+peeps&hc=0&hs=0) into Yahoo Search yielded an astonishing 325 web pages, each with the lurid details of high frequency radiation on candy chickens. We all have too much time on our hands. ---
**Author:** ![2nd\_Law](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f475e1/32.png) [@2nd\_Law](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2nd_Law)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-metal-and-other-things/26677/7 "2000-07-25T04:17:51Z")
I can say from personal experience that a burning cigarette in a microwave will start burning like a road flare, but I have no idea as to why. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2000, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-metal-and-other-things/26677/8 "2000-07-26T00:01:56Z")
Stupid microwave tricks: As mentioned in the link given above, lightbulbs and CD’s are both entertaining. Don’t leave the CD in beyond the “light show”. The plastic will melt too much and stink. One they missed - ivory soap. Similar to the marshmallow effect, it bloats up like mad - don’t use a whole bar. ---
**Author:** ![Kyberneticist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@Kyberneticist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyberneticist)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2000, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-metal-and-other-things/26677/9 "2000-07-26T00:57:02Z")
Anyone have any opinions on the ball lightning described in this message? I’m not too certain whether I want to try it with our microwave… [http://www.amasci.com/tesla/mwball.txt](http://www.amasci.com/tesla/mwball.txt) ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2000, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-metal-and-other-things/26677/10 "2000-07-26T02:07:46Z")
This is the first time I have ever been truly sorry that I am a parent. As I must set a good example for my children, I am unable to go out to the kitchen and perform **Ky’s** linked experiment. I am seriously bummed out. The last one will be out of the house in 2008–I am definitely planning on trying this then. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2000, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-metal-and-other-things/26677/11 "2000-07-28T15:58:21Z")
In last years Royal Institution Christmas Lectures they did a very cool experiment to measure the speed of light with marshmallows in a microwave. Surprisingly accurate result too. ---
**Author:** ![Loren\_Pechtel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@Loren\_Pechtel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loren_Pechtel)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-metal-and-other-things/26677/12 "2000-07-30T02:28:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > **The other thing was, in Steven Seagal’s _Under Siege,_ he puts an aerosol can in a microwave, sets the timer, and the thing blows up very nicely, just in time to take out a couple of bad guys. Would this really work, as a bomb, I mean? Or would it just catch on fire and melt down or something?** ``` Remember, most aerosol cans are charged with a flammable propellant. The microwave itself couldn't do more than cause the can to burst--a bang but not enough to hurt anyone outside the microwave. However, now that propellant is suddenly released--you've got the makings of a small fuel-air bomb. ```