why do microvaes cause burns when absorbed by body tissue?
WHY and how does this happen
9 Answers
- 1 decade agoBest answer
well, lets define burning:
burning includes change in the chemical of the material. meaning the composition and structure of the material after burning is different than before exposure to being burned. microvawes have high frequency, therefore, they have high energy. This energy is enogh to change the 3D structure of the tissues since they are composed of lipid, protein and suger. Once microwaves hit u, your protein structure and everything else with it is going to have a new structure. protein`s structure is highly depndent on the temperature of its surrounding. anyone who has ever tried x-ray crystallography of the proteins knows best!
i.e. cells die after the proteins loose their function.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
If you are talking about microWAVES, then the reason they burn is because they excite atoms causing friction via radiation instead of blasting something with actual heat, ie fire. Similar to when you have a sherman-tank under the bedclothes.
Maybe one day we will get Microwave disposable barbies.
More importantly, why does a properly baked potato (in an oven) taste 1,000,000 times better than a dried out microwaved potato??
Source(s): My kitchen - 1 decade ago
You have already answered your own question.
Microwaves are absorbed by many things including body tissue but usefully not by ceramic plates or plastic food containers. As the microwaves have energy this energy is deposited in the absorbing material which heats it up.
- 1 decade ago
Ever microwaved a piece of meat? Essentially you are "burning" the meat with microwaves, which can be concentrated to excite the atoms within the meat. The excitation of the atoms which make up the meat (or skin) produce heat, which, in large enough quantities, will reach a temperature high enough to burn.
The same exact principal is behind why we get sunburns, only that is due to UV rays, which are naturally higher in energy, so they don't need to be concentrated to burn you!
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- 1 decade ago
the faster the water molecules vibrate (waves make molecules resonate) the more heat is produced due to the friction caused, so the heat cooks the meat well and any other thing is put into it
- 1 decade ago
I've gotten steam burns from the microwave. Yeah, it's possible.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
don't you cook meat in a microwave....are you more than a piece of meat?