I want to start by saying that I understand some of the stuff and I guess this should be more of an explanation like I’m 10 or 15. I know polar molecules and heat result from kinetic energy among molecules in rotation, vibration, and translation so I kind of get that dielectric heating works by moving the molecules around. I also understand light waves and frequency and some basic circuitry. The thing that I struggle to understand is the choice in frequency for microwaves. What makes other nonionizing frequencies not as good as microwaves and how is it able to release so much energy/food absorbs so much energy with low-frequency waves.
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Molecules are very small, not much bigger than the size of visible light waves. It’s difficult to convert large amounts of electricity into these wavelengths of light efficiently. And the light wouldn’t penetrate the food very deeply. The 2.45 GHz radio waves commonly used in microwave ovens can be generated efficiently with a magnetron tube. They also couple well into the water contained in the food, so the food is quickly heated through. There are other higher frequencies that also work well to cook food. The industry has settled on 2.45 GHz because it’s easier to build this size of magnetron.
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