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"Most of us have a microwave oven in our kitchen. They make heating up leftovers and the dreaded readymeal much faster than a conventional oven. In this Naked Science Scrapbook, we find out how the microwave oven produce the microwaves, and how they actually cook the food, plus how popcorn played a key role in the invention of the microwave oven"

"This is actually very similar to what happens when popcorn pops or when you try to microwave a marshmallow. Those air bubbles in the soap (or the popcorn kernels or the marshmallow) contain water. Water is also caught up in the matrix of the soap itself. The expanding effect is caused when the water is heated by the microwave. The water vaporizes, forming bubbles, and the heat causes trapped air to expand. Likewise, the heat causes the soap itself to soften and become pliable. This effect is actually a demonstration of Charles' Law. Charles' Law states that as the temperature of a gas increases, so does its volume. When the soap is heated, the molecules of air in the soap move quickly, causing them to move far away from each other. This causes the soap to puff up and expand to an enormous size. Other brands of soap without whipped air tend to heat up and melt in the microwave."

"Steve Spangler discovers the microwave oven is not just for warming leftovers. Grab a bar of fresh Ivory soap and gather your friends around the microwave oven. Sure, you could do it at your home, but save this great trick for the break room or the staff cafeteria. In under two minutes, you'll have the best soap soufflé you've ever seen."

"We love to see what microwaves do to common household items. We've shrunk potato chip bags and turned Ivory Soap into a fluffy soap souffle. What more could we want to do? We heard that it's possible to actually make a lightbulb light-up if you do it right. And sure enough, we figured it out."