Answer to Question #124493 in General Chemistry for Nicole Xie

Question

A ceramic plate has a shiny rim. The ceramic plate is mostly composed of silicon and oxygen atoms. The shiny rim is mostly silver. When the plate is heated in a microwave oven, sparks are observed. Compare the ionization energy values of silver to those of the silicon and oxygen atoms. Explain what is happening in the oven. Why are microwaveable containers usually non- metallic

Answer 1

Ionization energy value of silver is smaller than the silicon and oxygen atoms. The increasing trend of ionization energy is...... silver< silicon< oxygen

Basically, when a piece of metal place in the microwave, charges in the metal move around. If there is a part of the metal that is very thin, such as ceramic plate (where silver metal present), a high voltage could build up that exceeds the breakdown voltage of air and cause a spark.

Microwaveable containers usually non- metallic because if we used metallic containers the microwave will be damaged. When the food hot in metallic microwaveable containers, as food gets hot, water just converts into steam and the energy gets released. As the molecules inside a piece of metal heat up, they don’t have anywhere to go. The metal heats up very rapidly and will eventually catch on fire.