[Dianne]

Dianne  asked the Naked Scientists:
   
A mosquito flew into my microwave. I zapped it for 5 to 10 seconds. When I opened the door, the mosquito flew out. Why?
 
Dianne Howell
Winnipeg Manitoba Canada

What do you think?

[RD]

The intensity of the microwave energy in the oven is not uniform...

The wavelength of the microwaves is tuned to produce a standing wave.  This is where you get two waves, one going in each direction, these interact to make some areas where there is a huge vibration and others where there are none.

This means that there are places where the microwaves are very intense, where the molecules will be vibrated very powerfully so heated strongly.  Others where the microwaves are weak.  These areas separated by half a wavelength.  This is why there is a turntable in a microwave oven, otherwise parts of your food will be overcooked and others will still be raw.

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/kitchenscience/exp/measuring-the-speed-of-light/

In 5-10 seconds it may have been able to avoid a really hot spot



Resting on a wall ? (node ?).

[tangoblue]

Put a cocroach in next time, they can seemingly survive high radiation, why not see if it can survive microwaves?

[tangoblue]

Actually dont, you might nacker the microwave.

[AlphBravo]

Perhaps Mosquito can sense microwaves?

[Sprool]

...and dodge them when they see them coming? Maybe like a small child in a playground jumping over a skipping rope. Yes, that's plausible

[Æthelwulf]

If you put an ant in, an ant can also dodge the harmful microwaves. They instinctively follow paths where microwaves are not hitting.

[CliffordK]

Maybe I should try to fill my microwave with little critters sometime and watch them  Perhaps put them in a sealed container as I could imagine getting my microwave filled with ants, and never getting them out again. 

I mentioned here that a fruit fly can also survive in a microwave. 

I presume some of the critters get zapped.

However, a simple survival tactic would be that if one finds a place that is too hot, to simply move until one finds a cooler place. 

[damocles]

A mosquito flew into my microwave. I zapped it for 5 to 10 seconds. When I opened the door, the mosquito flew out. Why?

Because it did not much like the climate inside, and preferred the outside environment.  []

[CliffordK]

A mosquito flew into my microwave. I zapped it for 5 to 10 seconds. When I opened the door, the mosquito flew out. Why?

Because it did not much like the climate inside, and preferred the outside environment.  []

Yes, it chased the plate of raw meat into the microwave...
Then later decided it didn't like the cooked meat that was left inside, so it headed out to hunt down more raw meat