DIY 4th of July

Comically enough, many spoons put in the microwave would be fine. Not recommending you try it, but the issue comes from arcs. And spoons don't have areas where arcs can occur naturally, like a fork.

But since there are multiple spoons and other metal items in the microwave, couldn't these items still arc off of one another? I don't actually know the answer, so I'm asking seriously.
- Oh definitely. Individual metal smooth ball, fine. 10 of them not touching fine. 9 spoons not touching, fine. But if one touches the wall of the microwave or another of the objects there will be a quick spark, and depending on how long the contact, maybe a flame+
  Caveman posted a video below that basically shows without rough edges, your usually okay https://lemmy.world/comment/18066606
  Note, stainless steel and glass lids are made for microwave safe containers.
It also depends on the condition of the nickel plating. Scratched up cheap stainless would probably arc.
- To my understanding, the arcing is caused by hard edges. E.g. all the elections could be at the end of a fork's tines, and EM field forces them to jump to another tine instead of going through the root of the fork.
  Since spoons are rounded, they don't need to jump. I don't think the material plays much of a role in arcing other than providing resistance. They would heat up, but they'd melt before they arc. Still, they can arc from one spoon to another spoon when there multiple spoons close enough.
- I'm lazy and don't use tik tok, but from what I've seen when my spouse is on there this would make an interesting tik tok channel (is that what they are called?). Spoon Spark, where someone collects a shit ton of spoons and people take their guess on whether or not they'll spark or even start a fire. Maybe get different power levels of microwaves to increase to throughout the tournament.
  The E-Waste Arc Spark competition.
https://youtu.be/OyTmJX_TC84 Here's a YouTube video of a guy actively trying to make arcs.
https://youtu.be/OyTmJX_TC84
- Yeah I know it uses waves towards the center but they are throughout the microwave, yet people don't questions the holes in the metal siding, which are metal circles. So if arcing was an issue on smooth sutfaces, it should happen there as well.
- Yep, I have microwaved plenty of tea and coffee with the spoon in it.
The contact points between the spoons will heat up and may melt or spark.
- You mean like a spoon on a glass or ceramic plate? That seems unlikely.
  There is even companies that make glass/stainless steel lids for their microwave safe containers. So the lids won't warp like the plastic ones do and have to be thrown away
I learned this by accident while heating up some hot cocoa as a kid, haha!
I microwave my coffee with a spoon in it every morning at work, it's fine

What's those balls on the plate?

Ligma balls
- lmao gottem
Either magnets or ball bearings. Most probably the magnets.
- Nah, even weak magnets bunch up really easy, at least to make a solid sheet with noticable crystaline-like deformities being the only exception to a contiguous layout.
  Those balls are sitting way too loosely with way too many random gaps to even possibly be magnetized.

Don't try this at home.

Try it outside in your backyard.
- try it in your neighbor's backyard, the one without a camera? there. for deniability.

Sure it's terrifying, but you can start a sparky plasma show in a resilient enough container and keep it going for hours and the microwave won't break. (except maybe overheat.) The microwave will be fine as long as the arcs don't reach the waveguide cover. (which would risk burning/shorting the magnetron.)

I have done the microwave grape plasma trick myself and started an arc in a microwave. The current between the two objects goes through a very narrow point, which is enough vaporize the contact point to plasma. This then can grow as the microwave continues to pump more energy into the spark.

You can also do this by blowing out a match and putting it under an upturned glass shortly before microwaving it. Turns the carbon vapor into plasma, or some such. Though the time I tried it, it escaped the glass and melted the microwave's lining. Don't recommend if it's an appliance ya care about.

Not enough balls. Happy National Bomb Day America!!!

Make the foil spiky to be on the ~~safe~~ side

Source:

https://youtu.be/UzLO9fV3RiI