i.e. does food heated in a microwave cool faster than food heated slowly on a stove?
2006-07-10 06:41:15 · 14 answers · asked by Z, unnecessary letter 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
No. Given two identical foods, the speed at which they cool is entirely dependent on their surroundings; not at all dependent on the process that gave them their temperature.
However, if the food is microwaved in a ceramic bowl, while the food on the stove is in a metal pan, the food on the stove will cool faster due to the low specific heat of most metals.
2006-07-10 06:47:52 · answer #1 · answered by MeteoMike 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No. Heating and Cooling is a transfer of energy between the food and its surroundings. The oven or stove transfers energy by applying heat, which excites the molecules in the food and warms it up. The microwave excites the molecules by applying microwaves (a high intensity radio wave) to the food. Once the molecules are excited and the food is heated up, the only thing that will cool it is being surrounded by cooler air. The heat transfers from your food into the atmosphere at the same rate no matter how it was heated.
2006-07-10 06:56:54 · answer #2 · answered by Casey 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Possibly yes.
If you heat the food via microwave the food doesn't get heated uniformly. There may be hot spots and cold spots. There fore it may will cool down faster because some hot spots will end up heating the cold spots thus loosing the heat rapidly. On the other hand the food that was heated up in an oven for long time will tend to have more uninform temperature distribution. That's why it takes longer to cool. It is temperature distribution that determines.
2006-07-10 07:32:19 · answer #3 · answered by Dr M 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Microwave ovens actually only heat one type of molecule. Water.
These water molecules vibrate from the exposure and begin to heat up. The energy is then transferred to the other parts of the meal. That is why, for example, pizza when nuked gets hot in the sauce first, then the dough, then the cheese. It's all based on water content.
Dishes that contain food usually have a fair amount of water condensation on them from being in the fridge. That water can heat up and transfer it's energy to the dish before the food itself has a chance to heat up.
All of this is the reason why we cover things we put in microwaves. Hot water evaporates creating steam. If you can trap that steam and allow it to re-condense on the food, it will transfer it's energy back into the food causing it to heat up faster.
So, things don't cool down faster when heated in a microwave but in most types of food the heat contained within spreads out to all parts.
And as far as hot spots in microwaves, most modern microwaves have solved that problem by using better designed reflectors and rotating trays to even out the food exposure to the microwave energy thus negating most, if not all, of the hot spots that older microwaves used to cause.
2006-07-10 09:49:56 · answer #4 · answered by scott i 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it won't cool off faster, because when food cools of its because of heat transfer and it depends on if the temperature around the food is high or low, if it's higher than the temperature of the food, then the food will heat and if it's lower, then the food will cool. So it has nothing to do with you heatting it faster.
2006-07-10 06:50:23 · answer #5 · answered by mensajeroscuro 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not if it is heated evenly. Often microwaves don't heat evenly so it appears that the food cools off faster, it was just not as hot overall as on the stove.
2006-07-10 08:10:20 · answer #6 · answered by satanorsanta 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Temperature is a property and is not path-dependent. The heat contained in the food does not depend on the time it took to add the heat.
Obviously, after the heating processes the temperature will vary between the two if the conditions are not identical (container, atmospheric conditions).
2006-07-10 06:54:48 · answer #7 · answered by goldnwhite 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Regardless of the heating process, if the food is not hot throughout, there will be a slug of cold food in the center. (Try stirring and repeat.) If the food is hot throughout it will generally all stay hotter longer. Usually this results from taking more time to heat the food.
2006-07-10 07:13:09 · answer #8 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Food that is heated up faster will cool faster, it is independent of the method used to heat it.
2006-07-10 06:46:25 · answer #9 · answered by ag_iitkgp 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, it depends on the specific heat of the substance being heated. It has nothing to do with how it was heated.
2006-07-10 06:52:27 · answer #10 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋