Why does a microwave rotate the food being cooked? And is there ever a time when it shouldn't rotate?
Most microwaves I've used have a plate at the bottom that rotates when the microwave is running. I presume that rotating helps more evenly heat the food.
Interestingly, my microwave rotates by default but has a button you can press to disable the rotation. Under what circumstances or scenarios would you want to stop the microwave from rotating the food?
Best Answer
Microwave ovens have a turntable because the microwaves themselves form what are known as 'standing waves'. This means there are essentially static columns of microwave energy inside the cabinet itself.
You can see this for yourself - spread a tray or plate with grated cheese, take the turntable out (or press that button), and zap it for a couple of minutes. You should see bands of melted cheese interleaved with unmelted cheese. Thus, the food is rotated to ensure even heating.
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Why does a microwave rotate the food?
The rotation of the plate ensures that microwaves spread evenly and that the food cooks simultaneously and uniformly. There are also flatbed microwaves with a kind of stirrer/mixer at the top that makes sure the waves are evenly spread, even though the food is not rotating, .Why does my microwave change directions?
By design, they reverse their direction of rotation if a load greater than their output torque, or twisting force, is present, he said. \u201cAll motors require a starting torque in order to start themselves from zero rotation speed to design speed, with or without a load attached,\u201d Dr. Thomas said.Why do some microwaves not rotate?
Just as obstructions in the track can stop the rotation, so can broken wheels. If the wheels of your roller guide are broken or have become especially dirty, then your plate may have stopped spinning. A broken roller arm can also be a cause of unbalanced and rotation-stopping forces.Does microwave cause rotation?
When a gas molecule is irradiated with microwave radiation, a photon can be absorbed through the interaction of the photon's electronic field with the electrons in the molecules. For the microwave region this energy absorption is in the range needed to cause transitions between rotational states of the molecule.What Does Metal REALLY Do In A Microwave?
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Answer 2
You stop the turntable when there's not room for your dishes to rotate - think large rectangular dish, or two plates fitting into the corners. At best, the turntable will strain and do nothing, and at worst, it'll make a mess.
Otherwise, it does help to get your food heated evenly. It can't fix everything, of course. The center point is always in the center, and even if your food is small enough to avoid the center, not all distances from the center will get quite the same heating even as they sweep out a circle. And no matter where your food is, the middle is always going to take a while to heat up. But it's a lot better than fixed hot and cold spots without a turntable.
Answer 3
There are at least 2 types of units, one with the turntable and one without. The turntable rotates to more evenly distribute the RF waves from the magnitron. The units without a turntable use a rotating reflector just under the magnitron to distribute the RF waves more evenly. Neither are perfect, as there are always hot spots. Microwaves have come down in price a lot since their introduction because they now make a magnitron not used in the radar industry. The magnitron use to be half of the price along with their power supply. Now they are just more throw-away crap like most electronic devices.
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