How Does a Microwave Heat Food?

You put some leftover soup in the microwave for two minutes.

你把剩下的湯放進微波爐熱2分鐘。

Ding! You take it out, and the bowl feels nice and warm.

叮！你拿出來，碗摸起來暖暖的。

But wait... the middle is still ice cold!

可是等等……中間還是冰涼的！

So, why does that happen?

那麼，為什麼會這樣呢？

First, a microwave doesn't really heat the air inside.

首先，微波爐其實並不加熱裡面的空氣。

It sends out invisible waves, a bit like radio waves.

它會發出看不見的波，有點像無線電波。

And these waves are great at one thing... can you guess?

而這些波特別擅長一件事……你猜得到嗎？

Water! And almost all food has water in it.

水！而幾乎所有食物裡都有水。

The waves make tiny water molecules spin like crazy!

這些波讓微小的水分子瘋狂地轉動！

They turn back and forth billions of times a second!

它們每秒來回轉動幾十億次！

As they push and rub against each other, they heat up.

它們互相推擠、摩擦，就熱起來了。

Try it! Rub your hands together really fast.

試試看！雙手快速地搓一搓。

Feel that warmth? It's the same idea!

感覺到熱了嗎？就是同樣的道理！

But the waves only go a short way into the food,

但這些波只能進入食物一小段距離，

so the outside heats up first.

所以外層先變熱。

The middle has to wait for that heat to slowly move inward.

中間只能等熱慢慢傳進來。

Oh no, and ice is really bad at catching the waves!

糟糕，而且冰很難吸收這些波！

That's why the box says, stir it and wait a minute!

所以包裝上才會寫：攪一攪，再等一分鐘！

And what about the spinning plate?

那轉盤又是怎麼回事呢？

Inside, the waves bounce around and leave hot and cold spots.

在裡面，波到處反彈，形成了熱點和冷點。

The plate turns, so every bit of food gets some heat!

盤子一直轉，所以食物的每個部分都能受熱！

Oh, and never put a metal fork in there!

喔，還有，千萬別把金屬叉子放進去！

Metal bounces the waves back instead of taking them in.

金屬不會吸收這些波，而是把它們反彈回去。

Its sharp edges can even make sparks!

它尖尖的邊緣甚至會冒出火花！

Sparks inside a hot oven? Not a great idea!

熱烤箱裡冒火花？可不是什麼好主意！

My tip? Use a wide, flat bowl!

我的小建議？用一個又寬又淺的碗！

Heat it in short bursts, and stir in between.

每次只熱一下下，中間攪一攪。

Then let it rest for a minute before you eat.

然後先放個一分鐘再吃。

No more frozen surprises!

再也不會有冰涼的「驚喜」了！