Who invented the microwave

Some of their story is here. Read more about invention of microwave oven. There were theories that high-frequency electric fields could be used for heating as early as but this method used frequencies that are lower than those of microwaves.

Between and , British physicist Sir John Turton Randall, together with a team of British coworkers, developed multi-cavity magnetron which allowed for production of electromagnetic waves of a small enough wavelength microwaves and development of radar.

Magnetron was given to the U. One of the companies that were given contract by U. In , he was working on powered radar set when he noticed that a chocolate bar that he had in his pocket was melting. He exposed popcorns to microwaves and they popped, he tried the whole egg and it exploded. Being a family member who promoted spencer, I actually married into the Spencer's. What would do without one? Thanks for joining the discussion, Jeff!

Microwaves do make cooking more convenient sometimes! Hey there, Harry Potter! Thanks for sharing your comment today! We are so glad you enjoyed this Wonder and you made an awesome connection to the microwave, too! We're glad you told us about what you learned-- we dont' know what we would do without the telephone! Hey there, Pinkie Popstar! Thanks for sharing your comment with us-- we're so glad to hear you've been WONDERing about a cool invention, and the person who invented it!

We learned that Percy Spencer is the inventor of the microwave, Queen Panda! We Wonder if you can read the rest of the Wonder to find out how the invention came to be!

Isn't it fascinating, Fatumata?? We learned that the microwave is a pretty powerful invention Thanks for WONDERing on your own-- make sure you are safe and talk to an adult or parent before trying your very own microwave experiments!

Can you believe the microwave was invented by accident?! Hope to see you tomorrow for a new and rolling Wonder! YAY, we're glad that you were impressed by that bar of soap in the microwave, Blakeleigh! We bet the person in the video knew that the bar was going to foam up in the microwave-- how crazy!

Thanks for joining us at Wonderopolis today! We really appreciate the great things that a microwave can do, too, Bilbo!

We're glad you stopped by Wonderopolis today to say hello! You make a great point, Gina M! We really have learned about a lot of different accidental inventions! Isn't it amazing to imagine inventing something by accident, Jacob L?!

We think it's pretty crazy to imagine how much a microwave would have cost many years ago? Hey there, Mystery! What great guesses you have about tomorrow's Wonder!

Have a great day! Hooray, we're excited that our Wonder Friend, Ms. Blanchard, learned something new today! Thanks for spreading the Wonder and sharing your comment! We sure are glad that the microwave was invented-- even if it was by accident! Have a terrific day, Wonder Friend! We're glad you're here! Ski's AM Class is here! What a happy Friday indeed! Can you imagine such a large appliance in your house? It would look more like an oven stacked on top of another oven! We're glad that microwaves today are smaller and quicker than the originals!

Thanks for sharing your very awesome guesses for tomorrow's Wonder-- we can't wait to see you soon! We can only imagine what it would be like to have a 6 foot microwave in our house today! We sure are glad that we can heat our food quickly without a gigantic appliance today! We are proud to say that our Wonder Friends do an excellent job of researching our Wonders, so the information is great! WOW, what a great guess! We can't wait to find out what tomorrow's Wonder will bring Thanks for sharing your comment, Trsta!

We really appreciate your thoughts, and although this Wonder may not have been your favorite, we're glad you've been WONDERing with us! We agree, Jaedyn, it's interesting to imagine a 6 foot tall microwave in your house!

And we're excited that Shanaya is curious about those original materials. We aren't certain, but we bet it was very similar to an actual oven! Thanks for guessing our Wonder tomorrow, Kamron and Daevon! We can't wait to see you soon! Welcome back, Laserdudle! We Wonder if you can answer those questions on your own after checking out today's Wonder! Keep up the great work! Thanks for sharing your comment about Percy Spencer's accidental invention!

Thanks for your comment, Curiosity! We're glad that today's Wonder was more your style! We have lots of Wonder Friends who dream up Wonders to share, but we really love when our friends, like you, nominate a Wonder! We're so excited that you learned something new today, Danny!

It's cool when we learn that the great things we use every day were an accidental invention! Thanks for joining us today and sharing your marvelous Wonder guess!

We are undergoing some spring clearing site maintenance and need to temporarily disable the commenting feature. Thanks for your patience. Drag a word to its definition. You have answered 0 of 3 questions correctly and your score is:. Want to add a little wonder to your website? Other radar technology use microwaves to monitor sea levels to within a few centimeters.

Police are also known to use radar guns to monitor a vehicle's speed, which continually transmit microwaves to measure the waves' reflections to see how fast you're driving. But none of this would be possible if Spencer hadn't first realized the melting candy bar in his pocket all those years ago. One of the engineers who was a little disbelieving in terms of a microwave's ability to cook, just as he was looking over, the egg blew up in his face.

With his newfound knowledge on how to cook food in mere seconds, Spencer and his employer, Raytheon, patented the invention, which they called the "RadaRange. Unsurprisingly, the RadaRange failed to take off immediately due to its steep price and the public's fear of the new technology. Eventually, the refridgerator-sized appliance was shrunk down to a more manageable, countertop size, and according to the University of Southern California , sales of the microwave oven "surpassed those of gas ranges" by By that point, people were calling Spencer's invention the "microwave oven" eventually to be shortened to simply, "microwave" , and adoption skyrocketed around the world.

It's still around today making missiles , military training systems and electronic warfare products. In the '20's, Spencer became one of Raytheon's most valued and well-known engineers. During World War II, while Raytheon was working on improving radar technology for Allied forces, Spencer was the company's go-to problem solver.

For example, he helped to develop proximity fuses, or detonators that allowed you to trigger artillery shells so they'd explode in mid-air prior to hitting their mark. In an email to Popular Mechanics, current Raytheon engineer and part-time company historian Chet Michalak says Spencer "had a knack for finding simple solutions to manufacturing problems.

Spencer earned several patents while working on more efficient and effective ways to mass-produce radar magnetrons. A radar magnetron is a sort of electric whistle that instead of creating vibrating sound creates vibrating electromagnetic waves. According to Michalak, at the time Spencer was trying to improve the power level of the magnetron tubes to be used in radar sets. On that fateful day in , Spencer was testing one of his magnetrons when he stuck his hand in his pocket, preparing for the lunch break, when he made a shocking discovery: The peanut cluster bar had melted.

Says Spencer, "It was a gooey, sticky mess. A story this good can't help but change as it's passed down over the years. Some tellings of the legend say it was a melted chocolate bar that led to Spencer's eureka.

But if you ask Rod Spencer today, he'll tell you that's dead wrong. Chocolate melts at a much lower temperature about 80 degrees Fahrenheit which means melting a peanut cluster bar with microwaves was much more remarkable. Understandably curious just what the heck had happened, Spencer ran another test with the magnetron.