Why does Ivory soap expand in the microwave???

Question

Could you please tell me why Ivory soap expands about 2 to 3 times it orginial size when put in the microwave for 2 minutes?

I know that the water molecules are aggrevaited by the heat produced in the microwave, but how does the soap expand?

When the microwave stopped producing heat, the size of the soap starts to decrease. Why is this?

Is it because the air trapped in the soap exscaped?

Please do not list the Stevens guy (or whatever his name is) I already have that information.

Answer 1

Ivory soap floats because it contains numerous bubbles of trapped air, which are introduced into the soap during its manufacturing. (The story is that the first batch of Ivory soap was made by mistake, when a worked left a mixing machine on for much longer than he was supposed to.) In addition to these air bubbles, the soap contains a reasonable amount of water that's incorporated into the solid soap itself.

When you put the soap in an operating microwave, the soap and trapped water absorb the microwave energy and heat up. Eventually the water turns to steam. Steam takes up much more volume than the equivalent quantity of liquid water, and this drives the expansion of the soap bar. In addition, the air in the trapped bubbles expands as it is heated, contributing to the expansion.

When the soap cools back down, any steam that did not escape from the expanded mass turns back into liquid water, and the volume it occupies decreases. Similarly, the air bubbles cool back down and contract as they cool.

Answer 2

Ivory Microwave

Answer 3

confusing thing. browse in google. that will may help!