I remember as a kid that sometimes a fly would get inside the microwave on accident. As the food was cooking, the fly was buzzing about seemingly unharmed, even when near the plate of food where the microwave beam would be concentrated. To my disappointment, it didn't come out with superpowers either.
So why didn't it die? Not staying within the beam long enough or some other reason? Also, have any of you twisted Yahoo Answers sickos put an insect in the microwave on purpose? The results?
2006-07-28 05:53:58 · 18 answers · asked by Ubi 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
Hmm, very interesting stories and responses thus far. Yes, I have a life; this is just a question I had in the back of my mind since childhood. Yeah, and I know the beam in a microwave is scattered to spread out over the food better. Maybe in my case the fly attempted to stay out of the center when it felt itself heating up.
2006-07-28 06:12:17 · update #1
Oh, and I was just kidding with the sicko and "flies with superpowers" remarks.
2006-07-28 06:18:16 · update #2
i haven't tried to fry a fly on purpose, but i've seen some that have died pretty discerning deaths in a microwave oven.
let's clear some misconceptions first... it's not a single microwave beam, but a set of reflected beams that are scattered all over the oven. you can't see the beam, unless you play around with some nifty fluorescent lights, and even then, not very well. microwave beams aren't concentrated at one point, unless you're talking of some very old (and expensive!) models.
a fly is a piece of organic matter, much like any other food you eat. it DOES get cooked, unfortunately, and doesn't come out with any superpowers... it comes out dead.
why didn't your fly die? i have no clue, but i suspect that the microwave oven was probably not working to its full potential, or the fly was just plain lucky to have tried suicide in an old oven... :)
2006-07-28 06:00:38 · answer #1 · answered by alt.blank 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
if what u saying is true then its a pretty hard question to answer. Maybe the material a fly is made of could answer this question. I know that, stuff is heated in a microwave coz the dipoles are made to change their signs very quickly (frequency), like -ve becoming +ve and visa versa hence heat is created when the dipoles rub against eachother.
The single beam theory looks a bit positive coz even when the oven is built in such a way that no microwave gets outside, the reflected wave should be in a very small ratio.
Still its hard to believe that a fly doesnt die in an oven.
2006-07-28 06:04:12 · answer #2 · answered by cateye4k 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
♥ I have no idea but I heard that a microwave only cooks in the center and directs its beams to the middle of what is being cooked (thats why if you have like 2 hot dogs you have to keep them in long for example).... so IF that is true that maybe since the fly was flying around it was ok.... it probably still had some effects just none that killed it... other then that I cant help you anymore cuz I have never tried to cook a fly :D ♥
2006-07-28 05:59:30 · answer #3 · answered by ?Blonde_Queen? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I laughed at the question, then sent it to a friend. He's a sicko and this is what he said: "I've put flies in the microwave. They go to the corners." That contradicts your observation. If he's right, my guess is that the fly can "see" the microwave spectrum and is trying to avoid the radiation. I really have no idea, however, but please don't kill a fly just to test it. Do it to a spider.
2006-07-28 05:59:58 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've never tried it with insects but I put a mouse in the MW some time ago. The first 4 seconds nothing happened, then the mouse was jumping like crazy for about 2 seconds then I heard some 'pop' sounds and the mouse died. It didn't smell like BBQ but I noticed his eyes were pop.
It would be more fun if you put a mouse or a larger creature in the MW instead of an insect. Try it!
2006-07-28 11:15:31 · answer #5 · answered by aepr_a 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cant answer that, but try this instead.
Capture two flies, put them in a jar, put the jar in the freezer and leave for 1 hour.
During that hour, get two matches, splice, cut and arrange into a small aeroplane shape (main beam, large wing and tail).
Take 2 frozen flies from jar and superglue on the matchstick plane.
Wait 5 mins for the flies to defrost and watch your own home made fly-plane.
Vrroooommmmmmmm.....
Have fun
2006-07-28 05:59:38 · answer #6 · answered by ogenglishman 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Are you attempting to wipe the ants off the planet? I advise, stepping on them is one element, yet microwaving them... they would not die with the aid of fact, i'm assuming that severe warmth isn't what reasons it to die. Ants in all risk have particular chemical components of their physique that repel warmth OR the warmth in a microwave in all risk does not attain the ant as this is soooo tiny.
2016-10-08 10:29:01 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Never an insect...but there were a few marshmallow peeps sacrificed in the microwave. Kids used to like watching them swell up and explode.
2006-07-28 05:58:14 · answer #8 · answered by curious 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I once watched cock roaches frantically scurry in a microwave while cleaning an apartment, where tenants were evicted.
Never though about it until now, but i didn't see any dead ones after my experiment.
I guess my answer qualifies me as a sicko for your research purposes.
2006-07-28 05:59:35 · answer #9 · answered by Cranky Old Goat 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I had a bat fly in there once. When i shut the door to trap it.. the microwave turned on..(old dial kind) the bat exploded..not pretty to clean up.
2006-07-28 06:00:52 · answer #10 · answered by Myasis 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋