Re: [Phys-l] Why ants survive in a micro wave oven. [Obviously "off list"!]

[brian whatcott <betwys1@sbcglobal.net>]

Interesting question for the desktop blotter - deploying no great insight.

It's easy to see that if an ant takes up energy at the same rate per 
water molecule as a beaker of water, the ant's much greater surface 
area  balances the heating by surface dissipation at a few degrees C. 
This would be well within the range of many poikilotherms, though just 3 
or 4 degrees C of core temperature increase would be problematic for a 
homeotherm, such as we are....

Brian W

On 2/9/2012 8:15 AM, chuck britton wrote:
> But - water molecules are even smaller than ants - and water molecules get hot.
>
> .
> At 12:01 AM -0800 2/9/12, Bernard Cleyet wrote:
> > According to Ben:  The ants are small and waves are big, so the
> > waves just travel over them.
> >
> > bc's favo TV programme, and is considering purchasing the DVDs.
> >
> > Outnumbered - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> >
> >
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outnumbered