why does popcorn seem to pop at a somewhat consistent rate regardless of the amount, instead of all of them popping closer to at the same time?

Question

why does popcorn seem to pop at a somewhat consistent rate regardless of the amount, instead of all of them popping closer to at the same time?

In: Physics

Answer 1

Microwaves and pans and even air poppers don’t heat in a completely uniform manner so each kernel will make it to the “popping point” at different times. Microwaves are really notoriously bad at heating things uniformly and are therefore probably one of the worst ways to pop some kern. A quarter will be un-popped and a quarter will be burnt, leaving a half bag of semi smoky smelling corns.