“the magnetron??!?,”
Your microwave oven itself isn’t a “magnetron,” but it contains a component called a magnetron.
“the magnetron??!?,”
I'm talking about the microwave-producing engine inside the oven, not the oven itself.
The cooking effect of microwaves was discovered accidentally by Percy Spencer in 1945 when a chocolate bar melted in his pocket while he was working near radar equipment.
A neato bit of physics.
Why microwaves heat water
but not the plate as much?
Simple breakdown
Microwave oven → the whole appliance
Magnetron → the part inside that creates the microwaves
So when someone says “the magnetron,” they’re talking about the microwave-producing engine inside the oven, not the oven itself.
How it works
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Inside your microwave is the magnetron (a vacuum tube device).
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The magnetron generates microwave radiation (about 2.45 GHz frequency).
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These microwaves bounce around inside the oven and excite water molecules in food.
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The vibrating water molecules produce heat, which cooks the food.