Only the Outer 1.6 cm

The waves reach only the outer 1.6 cm

Let’s cut open a piece of food 4 cm thick. The waves enter from the top and bottom (the yellow lines) and use up energy every time they twist water molecules, so they get weaker as they go. About 1.6 cm in, only about a third is left. So heat is made mostly near the surface (the bright parts), and the middle gets almost no waves. So how does the middle get warm?

Why?Stack sheets of dark glass, and each sheet makes the light dimmer. Waves passing through water lose a little energy to heat at every step, so they keep getting weaker the deeper they go.

Learn moreSo the saying “a microwave cooks from the inside out” is not true. Neither is “2450 MHz is a special match for water.” Water soaks up waves best at about 17 billion wiggles a second, but those waves would be used up in the outer 0.5 mm and only burn the surface. 2450 MHz reaches a few centimeters in, and it is a frequency set aside for anyone to use.

Depth where the waves drop to a third

1.6 cm

textbook formulas · example oven cavity 31.5 × 21 × 32.5 cm