I opened my microwave and put some food inside,but it turned on!

Question

I know this is technically impossible, but the microwave turned on when I opened the door. When I opened it to get the food out, it turned on again simply by me opening the door. Was I exposed to any harmful radiation by putting my hand in the "turned-on" microwave?

Answer 1

The guy who worked for Raytheon in the 1950s, who first realized that magnetrons could be used in 'ovens' to cook food, actually got his leg heated up and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.  It was one of those "a-HA" moments in history.

He was fine after that incident -- so should you be.  If you didn't feel your hand get hot, you're OK.

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Answer 2

Yes.

Microwaves cook food using oscillating radio waves.  The microwave part refers to the wavelength of the radio waves.  The frequency (which is determined by wavelength) causes water molecules to vibrate, which heats the water up.  The same thing was occurring in your hand, and even to a lesser extent in your body.  If you were exposed long enough, you would have experienced some bad burns.

Unless you're exposing yourself to powerful microwaves for several minutes, such that your internal organs are beginning to cook, you probably haven't done any more damage to yourself than passing your hand through a flame.

Answer 3

Microwave energy causes heating in a body. If your hand didn't get burned, you are ok.

But throw the microwave away and get a new one!

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Answer 4

This has happened to me, it's startling at first - but it shouldn't be harmful as you didn't receive any serious burns.