Calculate Speed of Light with Cheese and a Microwave | Everyday Awesome

Did you know that you can calculate the speed of light with cheese?! @AlexDainisPhDis back with another science experiment you can do in your kitchen that lets you calculate the speed of light just by using your microwave, a plate of cheese and a ruler.

By visualizing microwaves with cheese in our last experiment, we realized that this simple trick could help us discover another scientific phenomenon. You can use chocolate, cheese, marshmallows, or anything melty to conduct your own experiment.

[gonzalotapia]

Most probably its from measurement. Probably is not 13cm, but 12.3 cm

[JeffMountainPicker]

Very cool 😎 🎉
Can you do a short that addresses some people's idea that microwaves can alter food chemistry, and "destroy nutrients."
I just talked to my neighbor who refuses to use one. It seems like the freq would be WAY too low for breaking bonds in ing organic compounds...

[aishahakhtar]

That one intrusive thought i have at 3.00 am

[newton-]

What's kind of fascinating is: there is no "accepted" value for the speed of light. The length of 1 m was defined in 1983 such that the speed of light is exactly 299, 792, 458 m/s. Why such a random number? Because the new definition had to match the old definition as closely as was reasonable at the time.
So if you're measuring the speed of light today you're actually just measuring the length of the meter.

Fun fact: The US use the metric system for most of STEM matters. Also, the imperial system is defined using the metric system. For example, one inch is exactly 2.54 cm.

[marianneknowles]

Do the microwaves change speed when they enter the cheese, the way visible light does when it crosses from air to water (making it refract)? Maybe that’s a source of difference in the measurement!

[markmywords]

From that equation, you can also get the wavelength of your microwave without using cheese by plugging in the actual speed of light together with the frequency. 😊

Although it's more fun using cheese slices like in this video ☺️

[TheTilde]

It took me a moment to understand, but it's astounding! Thanks a lot!

[spendymcspendy]

A ruler won't give you the exact measurement, only an approximation. That is why there is a rounding error. Cool, though!

[AdrielSjahfiedin]

I had science projects when I was young and every year I did calcium dissolving through vinegar because why not… this would have been a good and easier project.

[Auzorious]

Isn't 3.18 too many significant figures? I'd think the tape measure only has two precise digits

Sorry for the nitpick, this video is great

[botodeov]

you would have gotten the right answer if you used european cheese...american cheese doesn't give the right answer..its close but not correct u need the metric system great vid!!

[bimalkumbhar]

Your finger nails also have different frequencies😅

[JamusChristus]

I think I'm in love. Is she married?