why ceramics can't be heated by microwave?
481564
they don't contain water microwaves work by exciting water molecules
960287
Possibly.  Old microwaves may have leaky or damaged RF seals, or the door is no longer trued to the chassis.\n\nBut, the oven could also be dumping a lot of AC noise into the power lines.
715720
Yes, it drives my hubby nutz that If I want to make a corn dog..I will wait 45 mintues to make it in the oven than in the microwave.\n\nI hate microwaves! Everything comes out too soggy or tough
758527
Microwaves are part of the electromagnetic spectrum. As such any hot body will emit them. The peak frequency of the emissions of a body go up as it gets hotter. For your body the peak is in the infrared. For hot coals, it is in the red. Microwaves correspond to a temperature of a few Kelvin - about -260 C. Of course, at this temperature not much of any kind of radiation is given off, but what there is will peak in the microwave.\n\nFor commercial production of large amounts of microwaves- for ovens or radar - a magnetron is used.
914449
Each material has a property known as "thermal conductivity" its  how easily or hard for heat can travel through a material. Heat will travel faster on materials with high or good thermal conductivity such as aluminum or copper and not as fast on material such as ceramics or bricks with low or poor thermal conductivity. \n\nThis has something to do with their atomic structure and bond strength between atoms. Think of atoms attached together with springs. When heat is introduced, atoms will start vibrating and its energy (from the heat) will "bounce" or shake its neighboring atoms and shake its other neighbor and so on... until every atom are shaking like crazy because they are transferring heat to the rest of the material.  Some takes more heat (or energy) to disturb the atomic structure of a material and heat doesn't travel or conduct "well" thru it. I hope this makes sense...
48882
Hot air rises.\n\nThe tiles are on the floor. Ceramics can conduct and retain heat, but not so easily when that heat isn't being piped straight through them.
242893
Hmm, I'm sitting here thinking about how microwaves work (yes, I do know how). If the pills have moisture in them (which I'm sure they do), then the electons in the pills can get energized by the microwaves and change the substance of the pills completely. The heat from the outside of the microwave itself though can alter the chemicals in the pills. It might be unlikely that anything happened to yours, but I'd just be on the safe side about it.
968430
its not the fact that he can or cannot use a microwave, I myself reside in SaudiArabia and am currently using a sears kenmore microwave.. we have both 110 and 220 voltage.. and they sell converters commonly in all hardware stores.. \nI would be concerned more with the shipping of the appliance.. The workers commonly hired in companies here dont take much care with items being shipped, it will be jostled, thrown, and crunched probably before your friend gets it.. It wouldnt work properly and might be a fire hazzard.. Unless by some means it is shipped via the military shipments..\nnote: brandy's suggestion is the best.. just send money and your friend can then use it to buy what they need best.. ^_^
38059
Foam cups contain air pockets, and this makes them better insulators. Heat travels by conduction, convection or radiation. \n\n1. Conduction\n\nThe air pockets drastically reduce the heat transmission by conduction. Heat travels more easily through the ceramic by conduction than it does through the foam with the air pockets. \n\n2. Convection\n\nSince ceramic contains few if any interstices; so there is definitely less air in ceramic than there is in the foam. However, in both cases, the air pockets are very small, limiting the amount of heat that can be transmitting by conduction. \n\n3. Radiation\n\nInfrared radiation is probably passed more easily through ceramic than foam, especially given the color of most foam, which tends to make it quite reflective. \n\nA quick way to tell how insulating they are is to feel the foam and the ceramic with your hand, to determine which feels cool to the touch and which feels warm. The foam definitely feels warmer, since it reflects the heat back from your hand. The ceramic will likely feel cooler to the touch, and therefore it is not as good at insulating.
756936
Y dont you try tortilla wraps.  Or how about cooking savory rice. Maybe plain rice and put your own ingredients in it.  You could plate up any kind of dinner to warm up in the microwave.
120346
You need tempertures above 1764 °F.  It is best done in a ceramic container.
177783
microwaves...everybody has to eat lunch!
863405
To get the water in a microwave to go above 100C, you need to prevent it from boiling. The process of boiling takes up the heat required to raise its temperature.\n\nTo do this, you need distilled or deionized water (removing impurities/particles makes it harder for water to boil). When you microwave the water, it is possible to get it past 100C without causing the water to boil.\n\nBe careful when you do this however, the slightest agitation to the superheated water will cause it to EXPLODE and scald whatever it touches.
1061136
Simply because microwave radiations impart energy to atoms and molecules in the crystal structure. Materials which can withstand the induced extra energy are safe, others are not.
637796
Try soaking it in boiling water for a few minutes. This should make it pliable again. If this fails, you should try zapping it in the microwave - but only in 10 second bursts as, if you leave it too long, it will melt and will be HELL to remove!
697259
they were added much much later (almost 40 years after the introduction of the microwave oven).\n\nearly microwave ovens often had hot spots and cool spots so people often had to stop the microwave and reposition the food.\nSeveral years later (mid 80's) you were able to buy wind up turntables that you could add to your microwave. Then finally companies started to  add the turntable to the microwaves(early 90's).\n\nThis also changed the way microwaves were made, the early ones shot the micorwaves into the oven with out any pattern to the microwaves. It was hoped that random scattering would not create too much of a difference between hot and cold spots.\nHowever the new ones with a turntable emit the microwaves in a flat beam, over the turntable, so that the turning of the food will prevent hot spots.\n\nAlso note that newer microwaves are much much smaller than the original oven. The originals were designed to replace the conventional convection ovens. However over time people tended to use microwaves more for re heating or heating small things like tv dinners. And no one cooks turkeys or roasts in the microwave because the food does not look as appetizing. Thus the size of the ovens has been steadily decreasing over the years, to the small compact size you see now.\n\non a side note, the early microwave ovens were called Radaranges
958774
the microwave literally shoots microwaves at the food; these microwaves then vibrate the food particles, causing friction, which heats them up.\n\nhttp://www.gallawa.com/microtech/how_work.html how a microwave works, technically