Nuclear Grapes
Search Google for Exploding Microwave Grape and you'll easily come up with a whole heap of sites explaining how to do exactly this, as well as a whole variety of far more dangerous things involving kitchen appliances. That's where I found out how. Unfortunately, only a few have videos, so I'm going to share mine so there's yet another way to enjoy the wonder that is grape plasma without potentially frying your expensive microwave.
Besides, it's even more fun than microwaving AOL CDs!
Videos
First, since that's what you really want to see, enjoy the videos:
Instructions
Just in case you don't know how to do it, it's easy:
- Get some green grapes. Might take more than one, so stock up.
- Cut the grape in half crosswise. Don't cut it lengthwise (through the hole where the stem was), although that might work too. Eat the half with the stem hole in it, since that probalby won't be useful.
- Dry the cut surface. Use a paper towel or something similar to get the exposed end nice and dry--give it a bit of a squeeze to get extra juice out, but don't smash your grape half.
- Almost cut the half in half. Slice your dried half a grape in half, starting at the cut surface and stopping just before you cut through the rounded end. Leave the two halves barely attached by the skin and maybe a bit of grape-innard.
- Dry again. Again, dry the newly exposed surface, squeezing a bit. The drier the better. Be careful not to tear the two halves apart.
- Place the grape in your microwave, split surface up, on a plate you don't like. If you have a powerful enough microwave (1000W or so), just putting the grape near the center should work fine. If not, you may need to remove the turntable and find a hotspot, but that didn't work for me so go to another site that explains it better. And don't use your mom's best china, because the plate could get toasted.
- Turn on the microwave for a few seconds (15 is probably plenty). No point in setting it for longer, because the grape will just burn out anyway.
- Watch the fireworks. The electric current set up through the thin part of the grape apparently superheats it, causing balls of plasma to form and rise up to the top of the nuke-machine.
- Clean up. When you're done, the grape will be burnt through where the two halves were touching, and your microwave will stink. If you're unlucky, you'll also break the microwave (melt the top, maybe), and the plate may be burnt or break as well. If it doesn't work, the grape will just overheat and steam, or maybe sizzle but form no plasma--try again with a fresh one.
Warnings
This is a fairly stupid thing to do, since it can break an expensive microwave, and possibly cause other damage. If you're a kid, don't do it without a parent's permission, since they'll be cheesed when you fry the microwave, and if you're an adult, it's probaly safe but don't come crying to idiots like me who post pages on the Internet when it breaks your microwave, shatters your china, or burns your house down.
