Thread by @paraschopra

I measured the speed of light using chocolate!

1/ It’s pretty simple and you can do at home.

All you need is a microwave and, well, chocolate (a large bar).

Here’s how it works.

2/ Microwave creates standing wave inside the chamber.

That’s how your food heats up.

The microwave radiation inside the oven has points of electromagnetic radiation that oscillate the most. Those are called anti nodes.

The ones that don’t oscillate (in red) are called nodes.

3/ When you put chocolate (or anything else that can melt, like cheese gratings) and remote the rotator inside the microwave, the places where antibode points strike on chocolate melt faster than others.

4/ Keep the chocolate inside the microwave for 20 seconds (don’t forget to remote the rotator; you want a static unrotating plate inside it).

The you measure the distance between such melted points and you get the wavelength of the microwave radiation inside the oven.

5/ Most ovens work at 2.45 giga hertz (it’s also written behind your microwave).

So you have both frequency and wavelength, calculating speed is then simple arithmetic.

6/ By the way, the reason food warms up at anti nodes is because electromagnetic radiation fluctuates at those points and as it fluctuates the water molecules (that have a dipole) get pushed and pulled with it, creating friction and thus heat.

7/ Thats it!

I’m trying to do as many science experiments as I can get my hands on.

If you know other such cool experiments, let me know in replies.

Someone really ought to write a science experiments book for adults. (Most are for kids and not so interesting)