Magnets, Microwaves, and Conductors
Most recent answer: 12/21/2013
- Helen (age 66)
Grand Junction, CO, USA
That sounds like a very interesting question. It's probably a coincidence, but maybe not.
The plastic bowl sounds chemically modified, with bonds modified to dope it with charge carriers. This happened to the plastic in an air filter in my house, but that's a whole different long sad story. I don't know what caused the bowl modification, but I think it can happen from exposure to ozone or some other chemicals. Perhaps once it starts to happen, electrical discharges from exposing the conducting region to the microwaves could accelerate the process. (My electronic air filter turned into an intense, dangerous, ozone generator due to a process of that sort.)
The ipad cover could have been demagnetized by overheating. Could the hot bowl have been set down on or near the cover? Otherwise, I don't see how that would be connected with the plastic, unless somehow both were exposed to some sort of shared trauma. Could your house have been hit by lightning?
Mike W.
(published on 12/21/2013)