Content

• Tips
• Warnings

1 Take an unwanted or defective CD or CD-R and place it in the microwave upright, resting on a glass cup or paper cup. Do not use metallic materials as support.

2 Set the microwave operation time to five seconds at maximum power. Close the door tightly and turn on.

3 Be ready to turn off the microwave if the disc starts to smoke. Inhaling this smoke is harmful to health. Organize good ventilation in advance, for example, open a window next to the stove, this will effectively eliminate smoke.

4 Enjoy the spectacle. The heated aluminum of the CD produces very small electrical discharges in the form of lightning and sparks. You can observe everything that happens through the oven door, and the usual precautions should be taken.

5 Wait a few seconds before removing the CD. Even after just five seconds, the disc can conduct electricity. Touching a freshly destroyed CD with your bare hands can burn you. Do not inhale the air from the oven immediately after the experiment. Allow the microwave to cool and ventilate the area through an open window.

6 Examine the layers of the CD. Notice the various patterns and paths etched into the surface of the material to create small metallic "islands".

7 Ready.

Tips

• Turn off the lights and draw the curtains for a better visual effect. Take your camera with you if you want to photograph or film the experiment. When using the camera in low light conditions, remember to firmly mount it with a reliable balancing device such as a tripod. When photographing in a dark room with a hand-held camera, unwanted blurry effects due to camera shake will be visible.
• For the added pleasure of photographing electrical shocks, secure the camera securely to a tripod and engage the slow shutter speed.
• As an alternative to handing over the CD to the recycling department, you could find other uses for it. For example, any unwanted CD will come in handy as a stand. Or you could collect a few microwaved discs and make a decorative spinning piece of them. On a clear day, aluminum will catch and reflect the sun's rays.
• A fire extinguisher is optional.A CD that is in the microwave for five seconds is unlikely to ignite, but if you want to expose it for a longer time, anything can happen.

Warnings

• Inhaling the smoke from a freshly burned CD is dangerous and harmful to your health. Do not inhale smoke or air in the immediate vicinity of the microwave oven immediately after completing the experiment.
• Do not heat the CD in the microwave for a long time. Five seconds is the recommended time for the experiment, if the exposure time is longer than 10 or 20 seconds, the CD may ignite. Failure to properly prepare and run the experiment can damage your microwave oven and your home.
• If you are a minor, get parental consent. Slightly lengthening the operating time of the microwave oven may cause the CD to ignite and damage the oven. If you do not follow this correctly, the fire can spread throughout the house.
• Only select CDs that are already defective and have serious scratches. Alternatively, you can use discs that you bought specifically for this event (that is, blank), or discs with music albums that you are tired of. Keep in mind that the processes occurring in a microwaved disk are irreversible, and it will take a lot of experience in combination with sophisticated hardware and software to recover the information on the disk. In other words, do not use any CD that you just come across.
• Do not try this in an old microwave oven. They do not work as well as modern ovens, and later you may have problems using them. An old microwave oven is more susceptible to damage.