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I LIVED happily without a microwave for 10 years, but, since acquiring one when I moved house last year, I have come to appreciate what a useful gadget it is. I have also realised that much of what I thought I knew about microwaves wasn’t quite right.
Microwave ovens work using electromagnetic waves, also called microwaves, with wavelengths of 12 centimetres or so – much longer than visible light, but shorter than most radio waves. Microwaves create an oscillating magnetic field that puts certain molecules in a spin: namely, molecules like water, which have positively and negatively charged portions. Anything …
