Introduction
Which is a guide for helping you understand the world of microwaves, or more officially 'microwave ovens'. The microwave oven is an appliance designed for a kitchen, and helps automate a wide selection of cooking techniques.
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Introduction cont...
It's main task is to heat food, which is achieves by using the radiation of 'microwaves'. A 'microwave' is an electromagnetic wave, which has a frequency from 300MHz, up to 300GHz.
The process helps to heat the water and fat within the food, which thoroughly and quickly heats the whole object.
The use of microwaves to heat food was first accidentally, and later deliberately discovered by Percy Spencer. He worked for the US company Raytheon, who patented the process and released the first working microwave oven in 1947, named the 'Radarange'.
The problem with the product was it's size, over five feet tall, weighing over 300kg, and being prohibitively expensive. It took until the 1970's for the technology to develop to such a stage where it began to sell in bulk.
However, the US began to lose ground to Japan, who were able to build smaller, cheaper and more reliable models.
By the 1980's the microwave oven was virtually a universal appliance found in homes in Western Europe, Japan and the United States.
The 1990's saw prices fall even further, with some models costing as little as £30, considering that the average price in the 1980's was around £100.
China has now overtaken Japan as the leading manufacturer of the microwave oven, due to low labour costs, the reduction in the price of micro processors, it's quite logical that the price has continued to fall into the new millennium.
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