But your curious scientific mind might have noticed that your microwave is…made of metal.

但你好奇的科學頭腦可能已經注意到你的微波爐是…由金屬製成的。

And there's even that metal mesh covering the window. And isn't that Hot Pocket pouch lined with aluminum?

微波爐窗戶上甚至覆蓋著金屬網。 那個 Hot Pocket 袋子不是內襯鋁嗎？

So what the heck? When do microwaves and metal play along fine, and when do they end up burning down your house?

那到底是怎麼回事？ 微波爐和金屬什麼時候可以和諧相處，什麼時候它們最終會燒毀你的房子？

Well, the heart of your microwave oven is a magnetron, a high-powered vacuum tube that generates microwaves.

微波爐的核心是磁控管，這是一種產生微波的高功率真空管。

The magnetron sends microwaves, which, like radio waves, are a type of electromagnetic radiation, into that little box where your food rotates around.

磁控管將微波（與無線電波一樣，是一種電磁輻射）送到食物旋轉的小盒子中。

And the little window on the door is covered with a metal mesh because that forms what's called a Faraday cage.

微波爐門上的小窗戶覆蓋著金屬網，因為這形成了所謂的法拉第籠。

The holes in the mesh are smaller than a microwave's wavelength, so they keep those waves from passing through the door and cooking off your face.

網孔中的孔比微波爐的波長小，因此它們可以防止這些波穿過門並在你的臉上烹飪。

Safely contained in the box, these microwaves can pass through glass, paper, and plastic until they're absorbed by the water molecules in your food.

這些微波安全地存放在盒子中，可以穿過玻璃、紙張和塑料，直到被食物中的水分子吸收。

They heat up until, suddenly, your burrito is no longer frozen.

它們會加熱，直到突然間，你的墨西哥捲餅不再冷凍。

But metals… metals are a different story. They're full of free-moving electrons, so they conduct electricity like nobody's business.

但金屬……金屬則是另一回事。 它們充滿了自由移動的電子，因此它們的導電能力無人能及。

How microwaves respond to metal, though, can depend on the metal's thickness and shape.

然而，微波對金屬的反應取決於金屬的厚度和形狀。

The walls of your microwave oven, for instance, are thick and flat, so when microwaves strike them, the electrons in the metal vibrate back and forth, but the microwaves just bounce off.

例如，微波爐的牆壁又厚又平，因此當微波撞擊它們時，金屬中的電子會來回振動，但微波只會反彈。

But when a piece of metal is really thin, like a piece of foil, it's less able to withstand all of that electron activity, and it heats up really fast.

但是，當一塊金屬非常薄（例如一片箔片）時，它就無法承受所有電子活動，並且升溫速度非常快。

Before you know it, it can ignite.

在你意識到之前，它就會被點燃。

Plus, most metal objects like forks and wads of foil have curves and corners.

另外，大多數金屬物體（例如叉子和箔片）都有曲線和角。

These features can cause microwaves to produce concentrated electric fields along the points and edges.

這些特徵可以導致微波沿點和邊緣產生集中電場。

This charge buildup can ionize the air around the object, which is what makes that terrible popping noise, and if the buildup gets high enough, it'll shoot out a powerful arc of electricity to the nearest metal object: usually, the wall of your microwave.

這種電荷積聚會電離物體周圍的空氣，這就是為什麼發出可怕爆裂聲的原因，如果電荷積聚足夠高，它會向最近的金屬物體發射強大的電弧：通常是你的牆壁微波。

And then you have to go appliance shopping.

然後你必須去購買電器。

And yet, some processed foods like pies, soups, and Hot Pockets take advantage of the fact that thin sheets of microwaved metal can turn super hot super fast.

然而，一些加工食品，如餡餅、湯和熱口袋，利用了這樣一個事實，即微波金屬薄片可以變得超級熱超級快。

These foods are packaged with a thin metallic layer that's coated with a nonmetallic material on the outside, so the food that touches the metal inside browns up quickly.

這些食物採用薄金屬層包裝，外面塗有非金屬材料，因此接觸內部金屬的食物很快就會變成褐色。

But even those foods need to be watched carefully because if they're left inside for too long, they could burst into flames.

但即使是這些食物也需要仔細觀察，因為如果它們在裡面放置太久，它們可能會起火。

So in the end, it turns out you can put some metal in the microwave, if you're careful.

所以最後，如果你小心的話，你可以將一些金屬放入微波爐。

But, I mean, why risk it? You could ruin your kitchen. Or your burrito.

但是，我的意思是，為什麼要冒險呢？ 你可能會毀了你的廚房。 或你的墨西哥捲餅。

Thanks for asking, and thanks to our Subbable subscribers who keep these answers coming.

感謝提出問題，也感謝我們的 Subbable 訂閱者不斷提供這些答案。

If you have a quick question, let us know on Facebook and Twitter or in the comments below, and don't forget to got to youtube.com/scishow and subscribe.

如果你有任何疑問，請在 Facebook 和 Twitter 上或在下面的評論中告訴我們，並且不要忘記訪問 youtube.com/scishow 並訂閱。