3 The cooking time is usually reduced to a few minutes rather
than hours.
drying uniformly and rapidly, microwaves are used commercially to:
(a) Dry potato chips (in the process of making potato chips).
(b) Dry glue binds in plywood manufacturing.
(c)
Dry high-speed photographic film.
(3)
Medical use.
(a) The microwave autoclave. It has been demonstrated that the
microwave autoclave (sterilizer) slows down bacterial and viral growth and also makes
enzymes inactive.
(b) Diathermy machine. Microwave radiation has been used for many
years in diathermy machines to heat tissue internally. The advantage of microwave
energy is that it can localize the heat in order to treat muscle pain, etc., without heating
the surrounding tissue.
(c) Biological research. Microwaves are used in biological research
whenever heating must be carefully controlled.
b. Conveying Information.
(1) Microwave application. The most common application of microwaves is
in radar and communication networks. Both fields have grown tremendously along with
the growth of the computer industry since computers are now an integral part of almost
(2) Radar. Radar consists of a microwave transmitter used to send out a
beam of radiation. This beam of radiation travels in a straight line until it strikes an
object, such as an airplane, which reflects the beam back to a receiver. Using
sophisticated electronic techniques, a person can obtain information about the speed of
the plane, its range, direction of travel, and even the type of aircraft. Determining speed
and direction of travel is the simplest use of radar. Here are other uses of radar:
(a) Military uses.
1 Radar can guide missiles to their targets.
2 Radar can aim artillery at enemy aircraft.
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