Question

A microwave oven operating at 1.22 × 108 nm is used to heat 165 mL of water (roughly the volume of a teacup) from 23.0°C to 100.0°C. Calculate the number of photons needed if 88.3 percent of microwave energy is converted to the thermal energy of water.

Answer 1

Answer: The number of photons are $3.7\times 10^8$

Explanation:

We are given:

Wavelength of microwave = $1.22\times 10^8nm=0.122m$    (Conversion factor:  $1m=10^9nm$  )

• To calculate the energy of one photon, we use Planck's equation, which is:

$E=\frac{hc}{\lambda}$

where,

h = Planck's constant = $6.625\times 10^{-34}J.s$

c = speed of light = $3\times 10^8m/s$

$\lambda$ = wavelength = 0.122 m

Putting values in above equation, we get:

$E=\frac{6.625\times 10^{-34}J.s\times 3\times 10^8m/s}{0.122m}\\\\E=1.63\times 10^{-24}J$

Now, calculating the energy of the photon with 88.3 % efficiency, we get:

$E=1.63\times 10^{-24}\times \frac{88.3}{100}=1.44\times 10^{-24}J$

• To calculate the mass of water, we use the equation:

$Density=\frac{Mass}{Volume}$

Density of water = 1 g/mL

Volume of water = 165 mL

Putting values in above equation, we get:

$1g/mL=\frac{\text{Mass of water}}{165mL}\\\\\text{Mass of water}=165g$

• To calculate the amount of energy of photons to raise the temperature from 23°C to 100°C, we use the equation:

$q=mc\Delta T$

where,

m = mass of water = 165 g

c = specific heat capacity of water = 4.184 J/g.°C

$\Delta T$ = change in temperature = $T_2-T_1=100^oC-23^oC=77^oC$

Putting values in above equation, we get:

$q=165g\times 4.184J/g.^oC\times 77^oC\\\\q=53157.72J$

This energy is the amount of energy for 'n' number of photons.

• To calculate the number of photons, we divide the total energy by energy of one photon, we get:

$n=\frac{q}{E}$

q = 53127.72 J

E = $1.44\times 10^{-24}J$

Putting values in above equation, we get:

$n=\frac{53157.72J}{1.44\times 10^{-24}J}=3.7\times 10^{28}$

Hence, the number of photons are $3.7\times 10^8$