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by ajb 4265 days ago
That is really cool.

Any chemists care to comment on why the peroxide would explode in the microwave but not the oven?

2 comments

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=166634...

These guy tested the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide across a range of microwave frequencies.

Since hydrogen peroxide decomposes when heated, I'm guessing it's just due to the microwaves heating the mixture.

microwaves are at the wavelength that 'excites' / 'wobbles' / 'resonates' (pick your analogy of ball and spring physics) the O-H bond. H2O is entirely O-H bonds (give or take) and hence microwaves heat food vicariously via the water in it (heating up day old rice from the fridge is easier/better if you put a few mL of water in it). Peroxide peroxide is H-O-O-H so plenty of O-H bonds to excite and hence decompose...