Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Is the project, "Measuring the speed of light with a microwave oven" good for a science fair project? I though so, but i would like to hear what you guys think. I appreciate all comments thank you !

It is a good project (I assume you're talking about https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p056.shtml). Occasionally, I've seen questions from students who have a bit off difficulty getting their measurements to come out just right depending on exactly what kind of microwave oven they have (generally if you have one with a spinning plate, that will probably work pretty well, but there are some microwaves out there that spin the emitter in a housing and leave the food stationary... those don't work).

Please let us know if there are other questions about this that we can answer for you!

As I understand the theory of this experiment, the rotating tray would not allow the 'hot spots' to appear, making it impossible to measure the wavelength of the magnetron. I think the target has to be stationary.

Rick Marz

Yes, the target has to be stationary, but that means a microwave with a rotating tray is better. This is because you can just remove the rotating tray so that the object is stationary.

The real problem is if the emitter spins around the food, then you might have more difficulty because I'm not sure there is a way to keep the emitter stationary.