Do not try this at home unless you are a certified physics teacher. Try not to think about what all the crap is in this guy's microwave. And do wear goggles. The really interesting part is after five minutes. That's where the science starts.
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Make Lava at Home: Don't try this with your good microwave
Posted on: November 18, 2009 6:20 PM, by Greg Laden
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Comments
First a heat lamp in the microwave, now this. Am I seeing a new series here?
Posted by: jj | November 18, 2009 7:09 PM
What does this have to do with IPTables? ;)
Posted by: Virgil Samms | November 19, 2009 9:23 AM
Well. Glass, bottles, tables, laden. Duh?
Posted by: Rrr | November 19, 2009 12:15 PM
"...certified physics teacher."
Certified? In what respect?
Posted by: NoAstronomer | November 19, 2009 12:16 PM
It's good to see that Bill Beatty is still around. I learned how to hand-draw holograms from his site, years ago. I should stop by http://www.eskimo.com/~billb/ and see what else he's come up with lately.
Hm. I've got a microwave oven in the lab that I've been using for reducing iron oxides and melting metal - let's see how the glass works. . .
Posted by: Tim Eisele | November 19, 2009 4:11 PM
Update: I have confirmed that you don't need a blowtorch. If you can get hold of some magnetite powder (Fe3O4), it will come to a nice red heat in a microwave, and if there is some glass in contact with it, the glass will "ignite" and melt.
And Now You Know.
Posted by: Tim Eisele | November 19, 2009 4:23 PM
Not only physicists, but chemists too play with microwaves. They are an excellent way to speed up certain reactions.
Organic chemistry is a little dangerous to perform in a conventional microwave though. The labs that started playing with them had daily explosions. Now well-equipped labs have specially built monomode microwaves which perform reactions in blast-shielded cavities. They still have frequent explosions, but it's far less messy.
I played with both - the conventional as well as the expensive machine. When I was using the food microwave I used a plexiglass blast shield and didn't stay in front.
Posted by: Kemist | November 19, 2009 10:46 PM
NoAstronomer:
Certifiable.
Posted by: Benjamin Geiger | November 20, 2009 10:17 AM
Ooo, traffic spike! I really should get off my butt and turn more of Unwise Microwave page into "instructional videos."
Yes, goggles are a good idea, mostly for when torching the bottle. The glass also cracks when cooling, and sometimes shards are flung outwards a few inches. Keep the oven shut for at least five minutes. If it doesn't crack, open the door a little, then reach in with a screwdriver or spoon handle and carefully tap the distorted glass to get it started.
"Too hot to touch," no it isn't, not usually The cold glass stays cold, and you can impress everyone by picking up the glowing orange beer bottle. But this time I let it run twice as long (waiting for more plasma.) It wasn't too hot to touch, but was definitely too hot to grab and lift.
Posted by: Bill Beaty | November 23, 2009 1:55 AM
Amazing. It is hard to believe that you can do it so easy.
Posted by: Biz | November 23, 2009 11:44 AM