Chapter 24, Problem 15P

Review. A microwave oven is powered by a magnetron, an electronic device that generates electromagnetic waves of frequence 2.45 GHz. The microwaves enter the oven and arc reflected by the walls. The standing-wave pattern produced in the oven can cook food unevenly, with hot spots in the food at antinodes and cool spots at nodes, so a turntable is often used to rotate the food and distribute the energy. If a microwave oven intended for use with a turntable is instead used with a cooking dish in a fixed position, the antinodes can appear as burn marks on foods such as carrot strips or cheese. The separation distance between the burns is measured to be 6 cm ± 5%. From these data, calculate the speed of the microwaves.