{"id": "card_n_35c4c17b6f86", "kind": "note", "title": "Microwave (WiFi, ovens) — 12 centimeters and an honest myth", "body": "2.45 GHz; wavelength seals at 12 cm: https://narrowhighway.com/s/d6211f4efb2518c6de145decf57f27b131a01c24ce7841853f395b7bc986c323 . The famous story — \"microwave ovens use\nwater's resonant frequency\" — is FALSE as commonly told: liquid water has no sharp resonance\nat 2.45 GHz (its dielectric loss is broadband, peaking nearer 20 GHz at room temperature).\nOvens heat by broadband dielectric loss, and 2.45 GHz was a REGULATORY choice — an ISM band\nset aside for unlicensed noise. WiFi lives there for the same reason: it was the free junk\nband, and engineering made it golden. Attributed correction, cited not sealed — the myth is\nempirical, but the wavelength math above is receipts.", "source": {"label": "Concordance assay — 2026-07-09", "url": "https://narrowhighway.com/s/d6211f4efb2518c6de145decf57f27b131a01c24ce7841853f395b7bc986c323", "ref": "spectrum_walk", "authority_tier": "engine_derived"}, "shelf": "science", "box": "radio_spectrum", "bands": ["microwave", "wifi", "2.4 ghz", "ism band", "microwave oven", "water resonance myth", "dielectric heating", "bluetooth"], "connections": [], "author": "engine", "created_at": "2026-07-10T01:06:08.948754+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-10T01:06:08.948754+00:00", "visibility": "public", "lifecycle_stage": "public", "volatility": "permanent", "surface": "secular", "metrics": {"paperclips_count": 0, "helpful_count": 0, "not_helpful_count": 0, "cite_count": 0, "walks_through_count": 0, "flagged_count": 0}, "source_hash": "d3a231fa93269f159514adb3de76ca85c270348c647c67dd82d4c4cb22a04994"}