Concept explainers
A fun fact: You can use a microwave oven and a bar of chocolate to measure the speed of light. Really! Microwaves are electromagnetic waves, just like visible light. The difference is the wavelength of these waves: For visible light, the wavelengths are in the neighborhood of
If your teacher is unusually adventurous, he or she might bring in a microwave and chocolate bars, in which case you can perform the experiment on your own. Start with around 20 seconds, and make sure you take out the carousel: The chocolate has to stay stationary. (And now you know why a lot of microwaves have a carousel: Food heats more thoroughly at the spots corresponding to half of the wavelength.)
In case no microwave and chocolate are available, I did the experiment at home and took a picture for you, which is reproduced below. It’s a life-size scale, so you can measure the distance between the melted spots with a ruler.
Measure the distance between melted spots on your chocolate, trying to measure from center to center. Record your distance below, remembering that this is half the wavelength of the microwaves.
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Pathways To Math Literacy (looseleaf)
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