Imagine what life was like before the microwave oven was created. Time would be wasted in reheating certain foods when using a stove to reheat. As it takes a long time to preheat a stove, which is what was used before the microwave oven to reheat food. Using a traditional stove also tends to create a more stressful environment when being used because of the heat that builds up in the area making it uncomfortable. This does not exist when using the microwave oven as it can be turned on and off without having to wait prior to using it. Living in the 21st century, time is very precious and should be used economically. The microwave oven is a great example on how time can be conserved. Let alone personal home use of the microwave oven, they are also used in multiple fast food industries to provide quality food within a reasonable time. The microwave oven has become essential in most households and has served to be as important as a mobile phone or an ATM (SMECC, n.d.).
The microwave energy used in the microwave oven to heat up the particles in the food. Microwaves are a type of electromagnetic waves that place between radio waves and microwaves on the electromagnetic spectrum. The longer the wavelengths, the lower the energy frequency. A typical microwave oven has a wave frequency of 2, 450 megahertz (M. Brian, 2000). Water, sugar and fats only absorb waves in this frequency range, which makes it perfect for food. So although microwaves have a lower frequency than visible light does, it is still able to heat up the particles in the food. This is because as there is usually water in the food you are reheating and water is a dipole, the oscillating microwaves cause the water dipoles to oscillate as well. When the water dipoles begin to oscillate, the particles in the food will begin to rub against each other, which causes it to heat as well. However this is only at a certain frequency range, which is
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