Futuring and Innovation Unit 2 Individual Project
Futuring and
Innovation Unit 2 Individual Project
Many
inventions happen by accident. One of those inventions is the microwave oven.
Everyone is familiar with microwave ovens. They are used for cooking and
heating foods. It is a kitchen appliance that is almost in everyone’s home.
Molecules of water and other substance collide together, which produces heat.
Microwave oven technology heats the food put into it rapidly and uniformly. Not
every other kind of heat can do this.
The
microwave was an accidental invention. Microwave technology was not a new
technology. It has other purposes. One person wanted to know how this
technology could be used peacefully and what could be done. In 1934 there was technology
for high-frequency electric fields that produced heating, but the frequency was
much lower. British physicist Sir John Turton Randall and other coworkers of
his British team between 1937 and 1940 (Tietz, 2021). The wavelengths of this
were small in terms of wavelengths. Electromagnetic waves were developed, and
so was radar. In September of 1940, magnetron was given to the government of
the United States. This was an exchange for industrial and financial help
during World War II (Mass Moments, 1970).
Magnetrons
were then built by Raytheon that was given the contract by the government of
the United States (Howe, 2005). Perry
Spencer was one of the engineers that worked for Raytheon. He was from Howland,
Maine, and he was self-taught. He was one of the experts that were leading
radar tube design during the world at that time. In 1945, he noticed a
chocolate bar melting in his pocket while working on a powered radar. This
phenomenon was not new, but it was the first time someone paid attention to
what was happening, and it intrigued him. He also then exposed popcorns to the
powered radar. The result was that the popcorn popped. He also then attempted
the experiment with an egg, and the result was that the egg exploded. After
that, he attached a metal box enclosed to the high-density magnetic field and
experimented on food. This experimentation was safe and controlled (Smithsonian
Institution 2014).
On
October 8, 1945, the microwave cooking oven was patented (APS, 2015). A Boston restaurant was one
of the first that used a prototype for testing. The first time it was used for
the public was for a vending machine in Grand Central Terminal that sold
freshly cooked hot dogs for Speedy Weeny in January 1947. Raytheon developed it
for the cost of $5,000. The product weighed almost 750 pounds and was almost 5
feet 11 inches tall. They named this device Radarange. The subsequent
development happened in 1954. This was a smaller version, and it used only half
of the power. The Litton Company then developed the microwave in a new
conversion in the 1960s. It was wide shaped and short. It was no-load, meaning
that there was nothing to absorb the microwaves, which made the product much
safer. The market for the product then grew exponentially in the 1970s, and the
cost of the product dramatically fell in price.
References
APS. (2015,
October). October 8, 1945: First Patent for the microwave. American
Physical Society. Retrieved from
https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201510/physicshistory.cfm
Howe, H., Jr. (2005). PASSIVE
COMPONENTS: A BRIEF HISTORY. Microwave Journal, 48(11), 22-34.
https://coloradotech.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/passive-components-brief-history/docview/204989413/se-2?accountid=144789
Mass Moments. (1970). Percy
Spencer, inventor of microwave oven, born. July 19, 1894 Percy Spencer,
Inventor of Microwave Oven, Born. Retrieved from https://www.massmoments.org/moment-details/percy-spencer-inventor-of-microwave-oven-born.html
Smithsonian Institution. (2014, May
12). Percy Spencer: Microwave inventor. Lemelson Center for the Study of
Invention and Innovation. Retrieved from https://invention.si.edu/node/1145/p/431-percy-spencer-microwave-inventor
Tietz, T. (2021, March 23). John
Randall and the cavity magnetron. SciHi Blog. Retrieved from
http://scihi.org/john-randall-cavity-magnetron/
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